


Rite of Passage

by fourangers



Category: Naruto
Genre: (no uke!Naru tho gawd no), Adventure, Anal Sex, Blow Job, Comedy, Drama, M/M, ROOOOOAAAAAD TRIP, Romance, SasuNaru - Freeform, Strangers becoming friends and becoming lovers, and one NaruSasu at the end btw, lots of talking about life and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 17:51:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 63,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12041088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourangers/pseuds/fourangers
Summary: Every day, he faced the same rhythm, the same pace that lulled his body to join all that dull reality in this life. In a sudden drastic decision, Sasuke decided to travel, meeting someone that would change his life.





	1. Itinerary 1

Waking up. Brush your teeth. Wash your face. Eat breakfast. Go to work. Work. Lunch. Work all day. Go home. Cook dinner. Take a bath. Watch TV. Go to bed.

Then he’d wake up. Brush his teeth, washing his face. Take a bath and eat breakfast. Work work work. Go home. Stare at the ceiling. Eat dinner. Go to bed.

Wake up. Brush his teeth. Work. Bed. Wake up. Work. Bed. Wake up. Work. Bed.

Every day, he faced the same rhythm, the same pace that lulled his body to join all that dull reality in this life.

Watching the time moving so fast, he woke up with a growing dread lumping on this throat. Another regular day ingrained his every movement, a never ending repetition. His family promised that they were planning something extraordinary for his special day, something unique–that would never snap him out of this ordinary routine.

Just the mere idea that he’d let this monotony lead his life…is unbearable.

–.–

Striding all the way from downtown, his whistle carried through the bucolic streets, empty at night. His limbs all protested from the exertion pertained the whole day, but it was a good ache, and nothing like a good rest wouldn't fix it. As he arrived at the humble looking house, he raised an eyebrow once he noticed that the door was slight ajar. He went inside, noticing a conversation:

"But you really don't have any bed left? Please help me out, this is the last place in this city and all other hostels and hotels are full."

He recognized the landlady's voice as she muttered. "I'm really sorry, but all the rooms here are booked for over a month ago."

Naruto rubbed his neck as he walked to the living room, spotting the landlady talking with a black-haired stranger. From what he could see, she looked troubled though sympathetic to that stranger's predicament. His shoulders were hunched, hands tightening on his jeans until his knuckles were white as he spoke.

"Isn't there any other way I can stay for tonight at least? I don't know, in an attic, inflatable bed,  or even in some spot on the sofa? Anything. Really, you're my last hope."

She shook her head, sighing. "I don't have any vacant place for you to sleep, and the sofa I have is just too tiny for you, young man."

"The sofa is more than enough, I guarantee you."

Naruto felt it would be better if he stepped in. "How about he shared the room with me?" He waved his hand. "Oh Gloria, hi, I'm back." He took the opportunity to peruse the other man. His hair was stylized with long fringes and spiky strands on the back, sharp eyes with high cheekbones and a pale skin that practically glowed with the faint moonlight. He was the epitome of masculine elegance.

He looked roughly his age too, lean body but nowhere delicate with sturdy muscles, appearing to be his same height too. His dark eyes blinked surprised once he noticed Naruto's presence, as well as his offer to help.

The landlady responded. "Hi Naruto! Welcome back. Uh─are you sure about that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, the bed is enough for two people right, and he looks like he really couldn't find anywhere else. It's not a problem."

This time the stranger appeared a little embarrassed and apprehensive. "I didn't want to trouble anyone."

Naruto offered a mollifying grin. "Oh, it's not a trouble at all. We're both guys, it's not going to be a problem. Ok, it's late already, you need a hand to carry your luggage?"

"Wait." He held his suitcase tighter and mumbled. "Are you sure?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yes I'm sure! Well Gloria, have a good night!" He tried to pick other suitcases but then realized that this man only had the one he was already holding it. Turning around, he began climbing the stairs. "Follow me, we better hit the sack as soon as possible 'cuz we're going to wake up reaaaally early."

"What do you mean by that?" Was the bewildered question.

"Oh, I assume the reason you're here is because of Procession of Corpus Christi right?" Naruto turned his head around and received a curt nod in response. "Yeah, so if you want to help them out doing the tapestries, you have to wake up roughly 3 to 4 am."

"Really?" The dark-haired man muttered as he followed behind, pausing when Naruto was fishing his keys in his pocket.

"Yeah, I can wake you up if you want." Naruto said, opening the door. "Sorry for the mess."

The other man only grunted, perusing the room. There was some unorganized spots but nothing too messy, so he placed his luggage in a corner of the room. "Thank you again for the help. I'll set my alarm by myself but I appreciate your offer."

"Sure. Hey, I gotta go take a bath, but feel free to do whatever you want ok?" He answered already fumbling on the drawer to find his boxers and sweatpants, entering the bathroom as he left the other man on his own devices.

As he was soaping his blond hair, he remembered his parents constant preaching about dangers in the outside world and there he was, sharing a room with a complete stranger. He figured he's someone who trusted people too easily.

He finished his bath, still drying his hair while he returned to his room, only to noticed that the other young man was already out of cold, sleeping cozily on one side of the bed. Shrugging, Naruto turned off the lights and soon joined in the slumber.

─.─

Sasuke almost wanted to throw his cellphone across the room the moment his ears captured the insistent beep of the alarm. He focused in keep his mind awake, sighing as he turned on the snooze mode, _just to make sure_ , letting a loud sigh as he stared the ceiling. The ceiling that was definitely not from his house. His eyes widened, immediately straightening up and checking his surroundings. This room that was definitely not his bedroom. And now he's in a place far away from his home, visiting a country far away from his own.

He did it. He really did it. He never assumed himself to be an impulsive man, but lo and behold, he's actually here. And sharing a bed with a complete stranger to boot.

At the admission of this information, he automatically turned around to gaze the other side of the bed, only to find an empty space. His body relaxed in response, unsure if he could face that stranger properly without permeating an awkwardness between them.

Yesterday, after relentlessly asking for an empty room in every corner of existence, his energies were completely depleted by the end of the day so he couldn't really absorb what happened last night, including his benefactor that let him share the bed. He remembered some vague features from that man, blond hair with a healthy tanned skin and a stout body. What really imprinted in his memory was his eyes; a shade of blue that almost shined in the dim room last night. Those vivid eyes exuded so much life and vigor that it left a strong impression despite his tired mind.

Sasuke figured the blond man probably already had gone to help around, leaving him alone to organize his own items.

The bathroom door suddenly opened wide. Sasuke froze.

"Oh hey! Good morning." He scratched the back of his blond hair, fumbling with the strings of his sweatpants.

Now that his brain was refreshed after a good night of sleep, with the bright lights flooding the room, Sasuke could study every etch of the sinewy muscles, broad shoulders and built torso, down to the happy trail peeking out from his pants. He immediately berated himself for staring too long.

Clearing his throat, he muttered. "Morning."

"Hope you had a nice sleep, you totally collapsed last night." Sasuke followed with his eyes as the blond man grabbed some clothes, walking back to the bathroom.

Sasuke nodded. "Thank you again for the help."

"Oh, don't mention it." The other man waved his hand in dismissal. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name, I guess you were really tired after all." He approached offering his hand.

Sasuke shook it. "I'm Sasuke."

"Oooh nice! Japanese huh? My name is Naruto." He grinned. "I'm not Japanese like you, my parents were good friends with a guy with the same name so they decided to honor him this way."

Sasuke blinked, perusing Naruto closely. Figures he'd be a chatty type, considering his boisterous nature.

"Well, nice to meet you Sasuke. We should get going soon, you have to eat Gloria's breakfast, it's fucking delicious! Crunchy bread, homemade jelly, fresh juice…you're gonna love it. I'm gonna change really quick and then we'll go." The blond man babbled excitedly, as he shut the bathroom door.

Sasuke also changed into a more comfortable clothes, with a navy t-shirt and burgundy jeans. Once Naruto was ready too, they went to the kitchen, greeting the landlady (Naruto with a cheerful voice and Sasuke with a quiet one), picking up the plates and filling it with mouth-watering food, colorful fruits, breads and biscuits.

While he was munching down his bread, he listened dutifully the landlady's rules and other details to follow while he's living in her hostel. She also gave some tips to visit Ouro Preto's landmarks, giving him a map of all the important churches he should visit, museums and so on. They bid her their goodbyes, going to the paved stone streets, the sun already peeking out from the horizon.

Despite being 4 fucking in the morning, there was surprisingly a good number of people walking around and decorating the floor. There were already several white lines that Sasuke assumed were outlines from a picture. The citizens were distributing the materials to tourists and children as they guided them out with careful instructions. This city (as well as many other across the country) had the tradition in creating beautiful tapestries, mostly made of colored sawdust and sand, to pave the way for the Procession of Corpus Christi. Ouro Preto above all has the habit of coloring almost every street, with the intricate drawings matching with the colonial architectures of their houses.

Not many could speak English, much less his mother language French but they all attempted to chat with him. Some children even approached undaunted pouring the green sawdust on the ground while they chattered nonstop, unconcerned with Sasuke's monosyllabic grunts and the language barrier, though many tried to speak some broken English with him.

An exceptionally smaller toddler began walking over the picture, kicking a little bit and disorganizing it all. One boy, in which Sasuke assumed to be his older brother, grabbed the toddler and pinched his cheek as the baby wailed loudly. Before Sasuke could panic and search for the mother of those kids, Naruto held them both and spoke with a soothing voice, walking away. The mother soon arrived flustered as she took them to another place, other children surrounded Naruto while they all chattered excitedly.

Without those kids disrupting his attention, Sasuke could focus in adding details to the picture, an elderly lady pointing out the areas and the color of the sawdust to fit in it. Soon he was sprinkling black powder to draw Jesus's eyes and nose, examining the entire picture with a satisfactory nod. The lady patted his back and he saw another man waving his arm so Sasuke spent the rest of his morning aiding the citizens with building up the colorful streets.

It's been a while he exerted physical energy that was not related to sports or gym, so the exhaustion depleting his body felt somehow invigorating instead of tiresome. Sasuke heard some loud shouts coming from somewhere and noticed that his temporary roommate was still playing with kids, some even climbed on his back, fingers laced in a tight grip around the tanned neck. He snorted, unbelieving how unhelpful Naruto was while everyone were busy creating the pictures.

However, as he finished probably the tenth tapestry or something, he realized that Naruto was distracting most rowdy kids, while the quieter ones aided him. Sometimes the blond man could even convince those children to pour some colored sand on the ground, praising when they did it correctly and ruffling their heads.

The procession was going to start soon, so everyone hurried to finish decorating, relieved sighs and jubilant shouts echoed on the streets once they ended the last picture. The once lively town slowly turned to a somber tone when they knew that the procession was getting closer, women adjusted their clothes and men took off their caps from their heads, awaiting.

A melodic ring from the church bells signalized their approaching, some murmurs between the citizens increased while they all stood on the sides of the streets. Sasuke readied his SLR camera while Naruto turned his cellphone on, alongside other people around them. From afar he saw some people holding a white tent, the ceremonial robes from the cardinal as he was holding an exquisite looking cross. Some younger acolytes were waving the censer in front of him, marching in an unhurried pace.

They reached Sasuke's point at last, even though they didn't stomp all over the tapestries, their steps still marred the pictures they have so carefully crafted. No one appeared to mind as they followed behind, Sasuke stared the face of Jesus he so painstakingly drew, now with all the colors mixing together till it couldn't be recognizable anymore.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto chirped in.

Sasuke gazed back, observing the population left in the scenery returning to their usual lives, some even picked up some beer to celebrate, while the children went away to play some soccer. He muttered, feeling invigorated. "Yes. Coming here was a really worthwhile experience."

"Religious are you?"

"I'm atheist."

Blue eyes blinked wide.

Sasuke shrugged. "But I'm not going to deny the impact religion had done to civilization. It created beautiful things as well as it destroyed it, all in the name of some fictional god. Religion after all was created by humankind, and likewise will always be flawed. You can't help but to admire how it can bring the best of people as well as the worst though."

Naruto hummed, before nodding in agreement.

"Well, now that the commotion is over, it's time to explore this city. Is there any church you would recommend me to visit it first?" Sasuke inquired.

"Uh…" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "You didn't research first before coming over here?"

Sasuke tightened his lips. "I…bought the first ticket to Brazil the moment I decided doing this. Can't really say that I made a thorough research then, but I did study some of the Baroque architecture back when I was in college."

"You mean…you decided out of nowhere to visit here??" Naruto stared Sasuke with a mixture of surprise and admiration. Sasuke glared back. "Well…guess you got lucky you managed to find a place to sleep. All hotels and so on would be booked for months ago 'cuz of this procession."

"Yes…and again, I'm grateful for your help."

"Sure. Uh…well, since you have no idea where to go first, I'll give you a tour around the city. I've stayed here for about a month, so I guess I probably remember most of the history of each church." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck.

"Lead the way then."

─.─

Gazing up to admire all the intricate ornaments painted in gold, Sasuke mourned the fact he couldn't take any photographs inside the church to avoid damaging the place. There was no way he was going to forget seeing all the rich details and opulent stories fixed in these gorgeous churches. Naruto proved to be a very helpful guide talking about the origin of the images as well as the artisans who crafted it.

On the course of the day, Sasuke was amazed on how easy was to talk with Naruto, as both took a fair amount of interest towards history. Long after the sun had already gone, they were still talking trying to connect main events of history in Europe with South America's, while they were strolling back to their hostel, observing the Portuguese influence on the houses and churches surrounding them.

"It's really interesting that despite having one religion in common, they would always adapt to the local culture though. It's fascinating to see this style when my country has gothic cathedrals."

"Oh? Where do you come from?" Naruto asked.

"France. My father is Japanese."

"I'm from Italy!" Naruto exclaimed. "My dad is American though. What a coincidence huh."

"Hn." Sasuke let escape a tired yawn, in which he discreetly hid with a hand on his mouth.

"Naruto!" Someone shouted, catching their attention as an old man was waving his arm. Naruto waved back as they started talking in Portuguese, Sasuke suddenly feeling offset from the conversation.

"Oh, by the way João, he's Sasuke, my roommate. He doesn't speak Portuguese and he only arrived here yesterday." Naruto said in English, as the old man and Sasuke shook hands.

"Just arrived yesterday huh?" He widened a toothy grin. "You have to try our national drink, cachaça and caipirinha! Especially the cachaça I brewed, you won't even notice the amount of alcohol it's inside since it goes so smoothly in your mouth." He picked up a small stone cup and poured the drink down, offering to Sasuke.

Sasuke accepted the cup, staring the small amount of liquid. João downed it one gulp, smacking his lips in contentment. Mentally shrugging, Sasuke figured this was probably a harmless beverage.

"Uh…Sasuke, you don't have to drink that fast since it got a very high percentage of alcohol." Naruto tried to warn, but he already drank it with gusto.

"Great!" The old man shouted. "Have another one!" He said as he poured another cup. Sasuke drank it, the sweetness and the velvety texture of the cachaça made it easy to swallow.

"Hey João, you could stop being a bad influence to foreigners whenever they visit this city." Naruto mildly complained, gazing with growing apprehension Sasuke's pale face was rapidly acquiring a pink color.

The old man huffed, pouring another cup to the dark haired man. "I've done nothing but helping them loosing up, taste some of our Brazilian culture. What's bad about it?"

"Yeah, but you don't know when to stop and hey, you." Naruto halted Sasuke from drinking another cup with a hand on his wrist. "Maybe **you** should stop, I mean, you're almost purple. Are you alright?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, jerking his wrist off the tanned fingers as he drank another cup. "Of course I'm alright." He snorted, standing up from his seat and took three smooth steps forward.

Then he passed out.

─.─

Frowning, he felt his consciousness slowly restarting, beginning from grasping the feeling of his feet, to his arms as his sense of sight and hearing were still a little bit impaired. He grunted when he noticed someone was carrying him with one arm enveloping around his back.

"Oh, you're awake? Jesus you scared the fuck outta me. I thought that maybe you had a head concussion or something like that." Naruto groused, adjusting his body to carry Sasuke better. "Hey, can you ring the bell for me, my hands are all occupied holding you, idiot."

Sasuke grumbled. "'m not an idiot."

"Ok fine, bastard."

Sasuke muttered something foul under his breath but still obeyed the blond man, and soon when Gloria opened the door, she widened her eyes with the sight of Naruto carrying a half-dead looking Sasuke.

Before she could ask anything, Naruto snorted. "He's drunk."

She shook her head in amusement as she let them inside, Naruto held Sasuke all the way through to their room, dumping unceremoniously the body on the bed.

Sasuke tried to move his upper body but a hand seized him down.

"Nuh uh. You better take a good nap right now." Naruto said, taking off Sasuke's shoes and socks.

Sasuke made an impatient noise. "Have to take a bath at leas─" His mouth then opened wide, letting a long yawn.

"You can do that tomorrow, sleep first." Naruto muttered.

"I'm ok." Sasuke assured.

"No, you're not. It's your second day here in Brazil, different time zones after all, you're still suffering from jet lag. Just sleep for no─" Naruto raised an eyebrow hearing a quiet snooze, Sasuke had already gone to dream land long before he finished his sentence.

Figures. Now where's that ramen cup he has been dying to eat since yesterday…

─.─

"Morning Sasuke!"

Sasuke growled when he saw the blinds being opened as strong sunlight filtered through. He turned around, curling his body.

"Normally I wouldn’t bother anyone's business but it's almost afternoon so I'm bit worried if you're still alive." Naruto said. "So wake up bastard." He poked the uncooperative lump of blanket.

"Bastard. Is this nickname really going to stay, you dumbass?" Sasuke glared but Naruto merely answered with an easy smile.

"Well, if you continue to act like that, I guess I'll continue to call you as it should be."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke shook the last remnants of his sleepiness as he stretched his arms. In some sense, he shouldn't be wasting his time idly since he didn't plan to stay in this city for too long, but he didn't want to overtax his body since that's something he had done almost his entire life.

It's nice to take it slow.

Sasuke noticed a plate near the bed containing some of the food from hostel's breakfast. Naruto probably took some for him, since the landlady said that the breakfast was open only till 10 am and it was; Sasuke glanced at his cellphone, almost 1 pm right now.

A warmth lodged in his heart and spread through his body at the admission of this fact. Naruto was still a stranger to him and yet he went all through this trouble of first offering to share the room, be his tour guide, to taking care of him despite all troubles. Sasuke contemplated.

Surely at first he planned to journey alone but it wouldn't hurt to have some company right?

"Naruto, if I'm not mistaken, you said you're also here for touristic reasons, you want to visit Brazil right?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, scratching his head. "Yeah…right. Why do you ask about it?"

Also, so far those impulsive choices he had done lately had brought positive results, so why not try his luck once again then?

Sasuke raised his head. "Want to explore this country with me?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I vowed to myself to never write fanfic anymore and here I am…once again…*sips tea deep in thought*  
> At first I wanted to write some quick fic to celebrate Sausage's birthday and then obviously, the plot evolved and spam out of control. I'm trying really hard not to get anxious as I'm posting this fanfic, but if you guys see that I deleted this fic, don't panic. I'll probably have to do it so I can reign my anxiety.  
> So anyways. Whenever I wrote a multi chap fic, I always wound up doing some sort of research and maaaaaan does it take too much of my time. It's either about architecture and Japan touristic spots, ninjutsus and the geography of Naruto world, or recipes of food. So man, I can honestly say that I got lazy this time and instead of searching for another country, I used mine. So yep. Naruto and Sasuke are traveling across Brazil woo─  
> The procession I'm talking about occurs yearly and they have some really nice drawings done on the streets:  
> https://confiramais.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/corpus-christi.jpg  
> http://veja.abril.com.br/galeria-fotos/tapetes-de-sal-a-tradicao-de-corpus-christi/  
> I went to Ouro Preto few years ago so I have some pictures you guys can see:  
> http://photos-around-world.tumblr.com/tagged/Ouro-Preto  
> Other photos:  
> http://www.ourplaceworldheritage.com/custom.cfm?&action=site®ionid=2&site_country=BRAZIL&site_name=Historic%20Town%20of%20Ouro%20Preto&siteid=36#


	2. Itinerary 2

"Are you fucking crazy?! Slow the fuck down!"Sasuke gripped tightly the car rail to hold onto his dear life.

"You know I can't! I have to increase the speed or we won't get out of this mud road!" Naruto shouted, trying to rear the car in control.

"You have to go slower or we'll end up crashing on some sugar cane plantation, stop right now!" Sasuke growled, his hand reaching on the steering wheel, attempting to turn right.

"Hey! Get your hands offa here, you're going to cause an accident!" Naruto slapped the pale hand away.

"If you continue to drive like a maniac, I'm sure **you** are going to cause an accident you dumbass!" His blood ran cold when the car suddenly jumped till Sasuke felt his backside floating above his seat for long seconds before crashing back again.

"Will you quit being so melodramatic asshole?! Everything will be fine, just trust me!"Naruto roared.

"No, stop it. Stop it! Dumbass, stop it right now!" Sasuke shouted alarmed as they were getting closer and closer to some wooden fence. He propelled his body forward with zealous determination to stop this nonsense at once.

"Hey! You're blocking my visio─!" An insistent noise of car wheeling halted their skirmish as they widened their eyes.

Their car got stuck in the mud.

Naruto closed his eyes, turning it off. Then he twisted the key again as he dug on the accelerator pedal without any avail. He tried to shift the car left and right as he resumed step on the pedal as far as he could, but nothing happened aside the car careening a little from the spot.

He threw his hands on the air. "Oh great! We're stuck!" He turned to make an disbelieving frown towards Sasuke, but the dark haired man merely ran his hand on his face, pensive.

"Congratulations Naruto. For a few seconds, you almost made me wish believing in God once again." He deadpanned.

"Oh shut up. Let's see what happened." Naruto went outside the car, as did Sasuke, both men appraised the current predicament, from the wheels were completely lathered with mud, the once silver colored car was now painted with brown to the obvious fact that the whole vehicle had sunk down and it wasn't going to move any time soon.

They stared in silence before Naruto smacked his lips, rubbing the back of his neck. "Let's try again?"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke went back to the car, waiting patiently as Naruto did the same.

When Naruto turned on the key, with a deep intake of air, Sasuke held onto the car rail.

"…will you quit squinting your eyes. It's not like you're going to die soon."Naruto grumbled.

"Could have fooled me."

Observing the blond man rolling his eyes, Sasuke almost began reconsidering the moment he offered to travel alongside Naruto.

–.–

(3 days ago…)

"Uh…exploring? Sure, I guess…I think." Naruto mumbled, caught off-guard from this sudden proposal.

Sasuke nodded, munching an apple.

"Let me think about it and then we'll talk?"  Naruto said.

"Sure." Sasuke finished his breakfast, picking up some clothes.

"And where exactly you're planning to go afterwards?" Naruto questioned, waiting as Sasuke went to the bathroom to change. "Rio de Janeiro?"

"Not Rio." Was the muffled answer from behind the door.

"Uh…São Paulo then? Salvador?"

"Neither of these, at least not for now." Sasuke emerged from the bathroom with a towel in his hands. "I don't want to go any typical tourist attraction people would go whenever they visit a country. I don't want to be part of anything regular, that everybody had gone. I want to find any place undiscovered, unique that makes it worthwhile the experience."

Sasuke stared confused when he only met an inquisitive silence in return. Nevertheless, he eyed back evenly, lifting his chin.

Naruto chuckled. "Alright, I'm in."

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm in. I'm joining your merry entourage or whatever you name it." Naruto widened his arms with a dramatic flair.

Taking few more seconds to let those words sink in, Sasuke blurted out. "Already? I hope I'm not creating any misunderstanding but I'm not pressuring you, you can consider my idea for as long as you'd like."

"Nah, I made up my mind, I'm in." Naruto grinned. "I was actually dreading that you wanted to go to some typical touristic places that well…I already went before but I feel like you're off for some great adventures. It's gonna be great!"

"I didn't plan anything, so I don't know if whatever we do will really be on par with your expectations." Sasuke warned.

"It's ok, as long as you're open to new things and so far you don't seem to have any problem with it." Naruto replied. "So, how are you going to decide where to go next?"

Thinning his lips, black eyes stared back before flickering towards the bedroom door. Naruto cocked his head to one side, following behind.

Sasuke muttered. "Let's decide where we should go today and we'll come up with some plan for whatever is later afterwards."

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto shrugged. "Sure. We can finish exploring Ouro Preto and maybe try touring a neighbor town called Mariana. There's another option though, go to a town called Tiradentes but it'll take roughly 3 hours by car. It's worthwhile though."

It's still 6 hours being wasted though; Sasuke mulled, shaking his head. "Ouro Preto is fine. Maybe we can try going to the other town tomorrow if it's en route."

Thus, they spent the rest of the day visiting museums and admiring handcrafts. As dark eyes were perusing some souvenirs in the street vendors, Naruto came to the realization how easy Sasuke was to tag along. He appeared to be in top physical condition, being able to walk all day, up and down everywhere without any complaint. He was not an exceedingly picky person, trying out new things and different spices. And even though Sasuke preferred a certain level of cleanliness and hygiene, under dire circumstances he wouldn't mind going to a dirtier bathroom or even to a hidden shrub to do his business. After meeting many people that were too naggy or too immature, overall too bothersome that almost made Naruto put off with traveling with anyone, this time he was looking forward to have Sasuke as his travel companion.

And ok, he's not going to lie, it didn't hurt the fact that Sasuke was nice on the eyes. Tall lean body, a striking contrast between pale skin with black hair and obsidian eyes, Naruto had to sometimes police himself to avoid staring him for too long.

"Can you wait for me a little, I'm going to buy a map of Brazil." Sasuke declared when they passed through a newstand.

Bewildered, Naruto obeyed, and later on they went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Sasuke actually ordered another shot of cachaça, downing in a single gulp despite all protests coming from the blond man.

"I'm not going to carry you all the way back again when you pass out bastard." Naruto shook his head, a smile playing on his lips.

Sasuke answered with a snort, ordering another shot and placing it in front of Naruto. Undaunted by the silent challenge, he also finished the drink quickly, earning a raise of eyebrow coming from the brunet.

Hours passed fleeting by as their bantering resonated throughout the dinner, their conversation went on even after they had paid the bill, walking back to the hostel. Naruto still had an eye on the rolled paper being held securely on Sasuke's hand, curious unbeknownst himself about why he'd want to have a printed map of Brazil.

Once they were in the hostel's living room, Sasuke picked all the objects on the table and set aside, opening his map and grabbed a coin from his wallet.

"Let's let the fate decide our destiny."

"Huh?" Naruto slackened his jaw.

"I'm going to flip the coin and whatever state it'll drop on, is going to be our next destination. What do you think?"

Naruto studied Sasuke's expression for a while and muttered. "Hm, call me crazy if I'm wrong, but for some reason I never saw you as a person who would let any decision being taken out of your control." When he noticed the thin lips being pursed, Naruto hastened to add. "But hey, I like this idea. Let's do it, it's gonna be fun."

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke trained his vision back to the single coin laying on his palm. He closed to a fist, shutting his pale eyelids and flipped the coin, ascending and quickly descending on the wooden table. It twirled for a while, circling around the big map as blue and black eyes watched in trepidation, speed slowing within each spin until took a halt.

Sasuke squinted his eyes. "Mato…Grosso."

"Mato Grosso." Naruto reconfirmed.

"Ever went there?"

Naruto shook his head. "Any idea where to go first?"

"No…what about you?"

"We could search for ideas…" Naruto muttered. "I'm gonna grab my laptop and will be right back."

Sasuke acknowledged with a grunt, also following behind to pick his iPad. "You know Portuguese right?" He asked while they were turning on their devices.

With a raised eyebrow, Naruto answered with a nod. "Yeah, why?"

"Feel like native people will have more interesting spots to go considering they know their country better than us, so it's interesting to read their suggestions. You can look in Portuguese while I search in the tripadvisor or something like that."

"Ok, sounds fair." Naruto began typing and soon enough there was an excited shout. "Hey hey Sasuke, look at this!"

The other young man approached with narrowed eyes not before he raised his eyebrows impressed by the pretty photos.

As Naruto was scrolling down the website, he said. "Looks like Mato Grosso has a lot of waterfalls. Maybe we should choose one?"

"Well…maybe we should search the one who has a great varieties of activities to do. It'll get boring if we only go to waterfalls and nothing else right."

"Hm…" A silence fell in between as their eyes were focused on the screen, punctuated with noises of clicking and typing. "It says here that the most famous sightseeing in this state are Chapada dos Guimarães, Pantanal and Nobres. Chapada dos Guimarães above all. It's a national park."

"Hn."

"They have waterfalls, caves and whoa." Naruto clicked more. "There's even an archeological site. That doesn't sound bad."

"Agreed. But how far is this place from here?" Sasuke clicked on the google maps and typed the aforementioned places.

"HOLY FUCK, 21 hours by car!" Naruto dropped his jaw.

Sasuke thinned his lips, wordlessly agreeing to this outburst. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to back down. "We are passing through two states after all. Anywhere else it's nearer?"

"Hmmmm…" Naruto began clicking every link possible, comparing their distances but unfortunately, it kept broadening even further. 22 hours, 24 hours…there was even one that would demand 27 hours of driving.

Sasuke huffed. "Feels like it's a waste of time, maybe we should decide this Chapada already since it's the best choice. I guess we have to face the fact that we'll use roughly this many hours to go there. Maybe we can rest in one city in the middle of the road and sightsee there while we're there."

"I'll see if there's something interesting in Goiás then." Naruto scratched his head. "Brasília, capital of Brazil, what about it?" Naruto grinned, staring the way the dark eyes narrowed back. "No? Not at all?"

"Not interested." Sasuke muttered nonchalantly."Anywhere else?"

"Well guess what. They have another Chapada, named Chapada dos Veadeiros."

"Pass."

"Uuuuuuuh…Caldas Novas, considered to be the largest hydro-thermal in the world."

"Hn." Sasuke checked and thankfully it was more or less within the path they wanted. "I'll see whatever hostel is available. You're ok if we share the room right?"

Naruto blinked. "Yeah sure, whatever. I mean, we've been sharing a room for two days and so far 's been good right? We should split all fares too." Naruto let his index finger scratch his jaw, embarrassed. "I'm not good with numbers though."

Sasuke lifted a crooked smirk. "Alright, I'll do it. You have to give me all the bills to me though. Like car rental, gasoline, highway tolls and all that."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Great! I'll be in your care then hah."

They began deciding which places they should visit, as Sasuke began preparing his luggage, knowing they would need to wake up really early.

Naruto suddenly exclaimed. "Oh oh oh! I found an awesome video! Look at this!"

Approaching, Sasuke stared and then glared. "That sounds like a terrible idea."

Naruto ignored the jab, his smile widening as the men in the video were jumping on a waterfall. "And it's only four hours by car from Chapada dos Guimarães."

"Only?" Sasuke did not bother to refrain his sarcasm.

"Well, we're going to travel almost 21 hours to get there so yeah. It's only 4 hours in comparison to _that_." Naruto grumbled.

"…we'll think about that."Sasuke muttered, noticing that despite the low quality of the video, the distance between the tip of the waterfall to the lake was rather far. He glowered from the victorious grin coming from the blond man, and returned to fold his clothes.

Even despite the possible difficulties lying ahead, his heart quickened with anticipation. It's going to be an exciting adventure for sure.

─.─.─.─.

(Now back to…yep)

"…"

"…"

"We're not moving." Naruto grumbled.

"I see that."

"We're fucking stuck."

"I also see that." Sasuke drawled out.

Naruto gave him a dry look. "I don't think I need your sarcasm right now."

A black eyebrow was raised back.

The blond man sighed. "Alright, take the wheel."

"…why?" Sasuke muttered.

"Well, drive while I'll try to push the car forward. I guess it's the only way out." Naruto opened the door and went outside.

"You’re going to get all your clothes dirty, are you sure?"

Naruto shrugged. "'s not like we have any other choice right?" Sasuke turned his head to look as the blond man positioned behind the car, hands placing at the back of the trunk. "Ready?"

With a swift nod, Sasuke turned the car on, ready to put the foot down on the accelerator until he heard a warning scream.

"Wait!"

Sasuke stopped at once, opening the car door. "What happened?"

Naruto was waving his arms energetically and said. "I think that guy wants to talk with us!"

Sasuke stared right ahead, noticing now an old man waving them back while he was driving a tractor. Before he could voice anything, Naruto went there and began chatting with that stranger, as Sasuke went back to his seat observing the unfolding situation, with a tinge of envy and admiration. Naruto had an ease with talking to anyone at any moment, letting their guards down with his bubbly personality. He, on the other hand, would always struggle to initiate any kind of communication, partially for his own reservations.

Therefore, Sasuke opted to observe how they were gesticulating wildly, the old man patted Naruto's back and went back to his tractor. Naruto approached grinning as he said. "Hey, that guy said he's gonna help us out. 'm gonna chain our car to his tractor."

Their car soon got dragged out of the mud much to their relief, as Naruto and Sasuke went to thank him once it was over. Naruto did most of the talking since he spoke the native language, with Sasuke standing next to him.

Suddenly, the stranger said something that made Naruto blush to the tip of his hair, spluttering a reply. The old man just laughed and patted his arm, Naruto held Sasuke's arm to drag him few steps away.

"What happened?" Sasuke craned his head backwards as emphasis to the question.

"Huh? Nothing!" Naruto answered way too quicker to his tastes. "Hey, that guy is called Fernando and he invited us to spend a day in his farm with his family. You wanna go?"

Sasuke frowned, studying the old man. He didn't appear to be anyone suspicious nor dangerous but still…The brunet attempted a more diplomatic approach. "I thought we were first going to that archeological site since it was on the way?"

"Yeah, I told him so, but he said it's ok whatever day we choose."

"And you don't mind? Going to a completely stranger's house?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uuuuuh…I guess I always have the habit of trusting people pretty easily. And well, I've been traveling for so long that I kind of have an intuition which is fine which is not. We can ask later the landlady of the hostel we're going if they are really ok. I mean, if you're interested."

Sasuke grunted. In regular situations, there was no way he was going to accept this idea, but the whole idea of this trip was to do something he wouldn't do on regular days. "Sounds like a plan. I think I won't mind going if it's safe."

He also tried to tamp down the fluffy feeling squirming in his heart when he received a grateful smile coming from Naruto. He went to talk with the old man as they exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.

The road was full of holes and sinuous curves, it was a wonder Sasuke didn't have any motion sickness. They both sighed in relief once they arrived at the destination, noticing a good number of native aborigines living there, the cavern had a historical and mystical significance for them.

Unfortunately before the cavern was protected by the government, many had degraded the place with graffiti. Sasuke huffed seeing remaining scribbles, whilst admiring primitive drawings. "Don't you wonder sometimes, did they draw these expecting the next generation would study them or they simply drew for no specific reason?" Those words were uttered without much of a thought.

Sasuke glanced backwards to see if any shock or confusion within that pair of blue eyes, but Naruto merely stared back impressed. He shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good question right? I mean, we don't know how advanced were our brains and that time they were still living in rudimental conditions. The fact that drawings still exist after thousands of years is still pretty impressive anyways." He took a photograph from a particular drawing and said. "It's crazy how far we have gone though. I mean, even this is eons old, you can still pretty much understand that they were drawing something about how they were hunting an animal. It's a fucking comic book."

"From drawing on caverns to draw in an iPad. Humanity can be really impressive sometimes. As well as destructive." Sasuke muttered, staring at some badly drawn graffiti below the ancient drawings.

The sun was beginning to set in the horizon when they bid their farewell and hurried to drive to their hostel. They settled with a quick snack at the nearest gas station, while rechecking the directions, arriving at the hostel at last at night.

It was getting increasingly more comfortable to share a room with Naruto as they didn't need to ask for permission for any little thing, tiptoeing around to avoid invading the other one's personal space. That also meant that Naruto was so carefree around him that he simply began changing his clothes while Sasuke was on the same room. Sasuke had to recheck himself not to ogle that attractive torso for too long.

"Oh yeah Sasuke!"

Sasuke blinked, definitely _not_ focused in staring that defined sun-kissed biceps. "Hn, what?"

"You know something that Fernando told me while he was helping us getting our car out of the mud? That there is a waterfall in Chapada dos Guimarães that you can jump to dive just like the video we saw few days ago!" Naruto beamed, putting his t-shirt on.

"You still haven't given up about that waterfall?"Sasuke said in mild exasperation.

"Of course not! Just you wait, you're gonna love it. The waterfall he told me is so cool that only people who live in the town know about it. It's in the national park so it's even closer and we won't need to travel those four hours to get there. Also…" He approached Sasuke with a conspiratory smirk and declared. "It's taller than the other waterfall."

Sasuke shook his head. "I feel like we better go or you'll nag me this entire trip."

"I'll take this as a yes. I'll even drive and prepare some snacks on the way. We better wake up early tomorrow!" Naruto chirped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So I made the huge mistake of forgetting that the event that occurred last chapter happens around April and Sasuke's birthday is in July. Let's forget for a second this small detail mmkay?


	3. Itinerary 3

Early as in 7 in the friggin' morning early that was too early on Sasuke's book. He glared despite Naruto's cheerful tone while the latter knew him well enough to let him take a small catnap as Naruto drove all the way through.

His body registered that once the car motion had stopped, the soft sound of engine rumbling silencing. He blinked himself awake, letting a small yawn as he unbuckled the safety belt. His eyes registered an oddity. "We're parked in the middle of the road."

"No we're not. We're parked on the roadblock, see." Naruto snorted, shutting the car door.

"You know what I meant." Sasuke returned the comeback with a sharp glare. "We're in the middle of nowhere, in an empty road with nothing but trees surrounding us."

"Yeah, but that old man Fernando said and our landlady confirmed that the waterfall they are talking about is in km 46, see. Plus, there are other cars parked around, so it's probably correct."

"Hn." Sasuke glanced at the appointed cars. "In a horror movie, this is probably the part where the villain who has been faking being a good guy so far, would attract some dumb jock to a deserted place and murder him on the back."

Naruto laughed. "You can check me if I'm carrying a knife or a gun if you want then."

"Luckily for me, I can defend myself."

Sasuke followed Naruto behind, noticing that there was a hiking trail behind a sign board.

"If you say so. Plus, you and I have to agree that I'm more like a protagonist in this case. The hero, courageous and kind, moving undaunted by all the risks and deaths surrounding him, who would inflict the fist of justice upon the greatest villain he ever faced." Naruto narrated with a serious tone, using large hand gestures to stress the epicness, punctuated while they were climbing through the large stairs made of red earth.

"And who would probably end up with some random love interest that he probably interacted for two minutes in the movie."Sasuke muttered, trying not to trip on the long tree roots.

"Yeah, we can't be perfect after all can we." Naruto continued climbing down when he turned to face Sasuke with a wide grin. "Hey, I think I heard some splash! Maybe we're getting close!"

"Joy." Sasuke muttered coolly.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know deep down you're all giddy ready for it."

"Sure." Sasuke did smirk this time, knowing that Naruto was probably rolling his eyes in response.

He also took his time to admire the forest, noting the differences with the one in his country; the thick foliages, lush green despite the cold season. Even though he was wearing a jacket when they began walking through the trail, a thin layer of sweat was already sticking his t-shirt to his back. He made a frustrated grunt when he tried to balance himself on the uneven ground, holding on a nearby tree while he scaled down.

Sasuke didn't really pay much attention how much minutes had passed though all the extenuating effort made it felt like time had stretched long enough. Even Naruto, that was making jokes and chatting non-stop at the beginning, had now his mouth zipped shut focusing not tripping on a nearby rock. This better be worth all the trouble.

All the human voices were increasing by the steps, encouraging them to keep on walking. The sound of water could be heard loud and clear once they reached the spot, as Naruto happily sighed.

"Wow."

Briefly squinting his eyes from the sudden flash of sunlight, Sasuke let out a quiet gasp, agreeing with Naruto's statement. Strong currents of water were blasting through tall mountain rocks leaving a sheen mist permeating on the air, a dark green colored lake pooled in midst of huge dark rocks, all being embraced by tall trees with several vines, all this breathtaking vision just waiting to be captured within a camera lens.

Sasuke fumbled to pick his camera in his backpack as Naruto already took few pictures with his cellphone and stripped off his t-shirt. Sasuke followed suit once he felt he snapped enough photos, placing his bag on a dry place.

He got close to a calmer surface of the lake, after hopping through several rocks and avoiding some sharp edges. At the very moment his feet touched the water, Sasuke cursed loudly. Fuck, this was cold. Not cold, gelid. He heard Naruto hissing too, his legs skipping around like some weird dance, trying to get used to the low temperature of the water.

Sasuke started walking around on the shallow part of the lake, trying to adjust his body to the water, thankful for the strong sun brightening in that clear blue sky.

"Oh fuck it." Naruto grumbled and then dove right in the lake with a loud splash.

Sasuke widened his eyes from that bold move, despite Naruto rising afterwards, shivering from head to toe. He submerged once again till Sasuke could only recognize blond strands of hair peeking out of the water, swimming few meters away.

A competitive side niggled on the back of his mind, so Sasuke immediately swam with broad strokes, not wanting to lose to Naruto. At first his muscles protested from the sudden clash of temperatures, but adapted well once he had exercised enough, reveling the refreshing sweet water.

His head bumped onto a soft warm body, so Sasuke stood up staring Naruto's grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Enjoying so far?"

"I guess." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms.

"So don't you think it's time for us to go to the main event? C'mon, I think that all those guys" Naruto pointed to the people who were already in the waterfall before them. "jumped like thrice already since we're here and I wanted to do it too."

"You can go, I'll watch. Good luck." Sasuke turned around, ready for another dipping.

Naruto scowled. Then beamed mischievously. "Scaredy cat."

"Last one loses have to pay today's lunch." Sasuke began sprinting with Naruto on his tail.

The path to the top of the waterfall was quite steep. Through each exerted effort, climbing each stone and jumping upwards, the strong breeze blew through Sasuke's face reminded him how far he was getting from the lake. He briefly turned his head and his legs almost turned to jelly. Gulping dryly, Sasuke inhaled and pressed on.

Some stones were covered with slippery moss as each step was carefully calculated to avoid any accident, the slow movement only increased his heartbeats. Sasuke approached at the edge of the cliff, dark eyes widening as the roaring cascades almost deafened his ears. It almost felt like icicles had lodged in his stomach.

He almost jumped when Naruto poked from behind his shoulder. "What?" Sasuke growled.

"Uuuuh…it's ok if you don't want to jump yet. I just teased but I don't want to pressure you too much." Naruto offered a tentative smile.

Sasuke huffed, shaking his head. "I'm ok, just need…few minutes." He balled his hand into a fist, vision still focused on the waterfall.

A pair of warm hands touched each side of his shoulder and shook his body gently, trying to disperse his anxiety.

"Ok ok…so, you already jumped on a trampoline at least right?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke nodded wordlessly.

"So it's almost the same thing. You saw other people jumping so it's perfectly safe. I mean, not 100% safe but you caught my drift right. Everything will be fine. You just have to relax the body to avoid any accident. You already done this before, so it's nothing out of ordinary." Naruto explained patiently.

Sasuke just made a snort of disbelief in return.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Anyways you bastard…You can do it. Go."

Huffing, Sasuke stepped closer to the tip of the waterfall and then stared down, the lake so far away from where he was standing and everything looked so tiny and blurred. This vision almost made his head dizzy, unbalancing his feet.

Sasuke heard a shout. "Don't look down!"

"Too fucking late." He grumbled to himself.

Closing his eyes with another deep inhale, he jumped. For long, torturous, wondrous seconds, there were only gusts of wind around him, adrenaline pumping his heart as his body only waited the end. In one blink, cold and refreshing water suddenly engulfed him till he was completely submerged within it. For brief panicked seconds, Sasuke almost feared he wouldn't emerge back, but thankfully his instincts kicked in. Soon he was floating back to the surface, his quickened breaths filling his lungs with air. He placed his head on the lake and swam backwards, perfectly content.

"WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Dark eyes rolled in mock exasperation, recognizing the voice from that echoed scream. Almost two seconds later (that felt like hours for him but it was always too quick in reality), he heard the loud splash and jubilant laughter right afterwards.

"That was fucking great!" Naruto shouted, grinning widely. He swan around the border of the lake few times, approaching towards Sasuke. "Let's do it again."

"You're crazy." Sasuke snorted. Then, on the same breath. "Let's go."

The second time wasn't hard as the first time, as Sasuke was getting more used to the sensation and thrill of it. By the fourth or fifth time he was even trying some other maneuvers, with Naruto snapping some photographs the moment of the splash.

All in all it was a worthwhile experience that made every bit of his cell reinvigorated, if he knew this would give such positive outcome he would have done this ages ago.

Honestly…he was getting tired of wasting his life away.

Onyx eyes zeroed on that tall path as he climbed upwards once again. However this time he settled to simply sit on the edge of the waterfall, admiring the scenery.

Taking long, deep breaths, Sasuke let his senses guide its time, appreciating the sounds of the waterfall, birds tweeting, the gentle sway of tree branches moving with the wind. Goosebumps prickled when a fresh breeze passed through, letting the sun warming his skin. His eyes committed to his memory never forgetting the cerulean sky blessing the forest below, untouched nature guarded by human hands.

Sasuke noticed on the corner of his eye someone approaching. He turned slightly to see a bashful smile coming from Naruto. "You mind some company?"

He shook his head, turning back to stare ahead in quiet meditation. Minutes flowed with the comfortable silence that fell so naturally, understanding that words were unheeded now.

It felt nice for once, he didn't need to pay attention to the clock. With anxiety piling up, tasks clogging his schedule as hours simply flew by, another day being cast away. Another month was over. An year being scratched through.

Previously he was filled with responsibilities and many activities but now…he was doing nothing. Nothing but sightseeing. But why doing something apparently so meaningless made him feel so…appeased?

Naruto continued sitting on his side, also enjoying gazing upon the scenery. Sasuke appreciated this companionship, relaxing his limbs even further.

"This…is quite pleasant." He murmured.

"Yeah, it's nice right? I could stare this all day." Naruto said, stretching his limbs.

"Hm."

"No matter where, I really like taking my time appreciating any place I go." Naruto breathed out contentedly.

"It is a nice idea. For all we know, we only have this one life to live, so better seize it fully before it's too late." Sasuke murmured.

"Then…we look kind of silly, just sitting here, watching the waterfall."

"It's not only about watching it's…" His onyx eyes narrowed, sighing. "you're consciously letting the time pass with your own consent, instead of feeling like everything is going past by you before you could even really experience it."

"Yeah, I get what you mean. Sometimes it's really annoying even when I'm doing something ordinary, before I'd know it, hours flew by. And it almost feel like you couldn't really savor how time will pass, no matter how inevitable this is."

"Yes…" Sasuke stared down his hand, curling it. "And then, before you realize, your life will be spent just like that, with you feeling like you haven't lived enough."

And even though he was enjoying the present moment, he couldn't elude the uneasiness and insecurity haunting his every waking move. Sometimes he could forget for brief seconds if his mind was too busy with his work, but the second when night would fall, and another day had passed, his eyes would transfix at the ceiling, shaken to the core.

"Then…you'll look at this beautiful place and it feels like this fear might only a nightmare…but it's always with you, looming at the back of your mind." Sasuke heard the contemplative phrase, echoing his previous fears.

Sasuke turned around. He watched, entranced, as the blue hue of Naruto's eyes acquired the same warmth from the bright sky.

"I'm really glad I agreed going with you in this journey." Naruto beamed.

"Really? Why?" Sasuke was taken aback.

"I met with some other people here and there before…some even traveled with me. They were all very, how can I explain." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Eager, almost desperate to live…doing all sorts of things, dangerous sports, doing everything from dawn to dusk. But I guess no one really stopped to appreciate and really think about what exactly is about…living life."

"Is that so?" Sasuke couldn't let even one day pass without mulling about all this.

"I guess thinking about such things about life…or death. Can't be pleasant, so a lot of people prefer not thinking about it, no matter how obvious it'd be, and how sometimes this uncertainty can bring this hollowness in yourself." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Life is too short, why not enjoy it instead of getting depressed thinking about this; is what they'd answer me whenever I talked about it."

"Why would I even stop thinking about it, what's the disadvantage ignoring it? Self-awareness and questioning your one self is probably the only thing that make us different from other animals, I don't get why would I even stop doing this for one second." Reflecting about life might terrorize him from time to time, but there was no way Sasuke would trade this for anything else.

Naruto smiled. "Yep. That's why I said I'm glad I agreed going with you in this journey."

His dark eyes blinked, before fixing towards Naruto's expression. The noises of waterfall, birds chirping and all suddenly felt muffled, as if Sasuke was really looking at him for the first time.

Naruto stared back, his heartbeats increasing under Sasuke's intense gaze. He could feel his cheeks heat up, his body almost wanting to move closer and erase the distance between them.

Out of nowhere, Sasuke stood up making Naruto jump from his seat as the brunet was dusting off his swimming trunks. He turned to face Naruto, speaking unflappably. "It's almost time for lunch."

Naruto raised his eyebrows, before shrugging and also stood up. "Yeah, I guess we spent enough time in here." He brightened up. "Oh yeah! I asked the landlady and she said that Fernando and his family are good friends with her, it's totally safe visiting them."

Sasuke frowned, but otherwise maintained his neutral expression.

"Also, they are going to have um…" Naruto paused, huffing. "I forgot the english word, aaargh. It's…like a party? But only between friends it's mostly playing music with their own band and everything…sarau. Do English have a word to sarau?"

Sasuke shook his head, chuckling. "I don't think so but I got the gist of it."

"Yeah! So you wanna go?" Naruto asked as they were climbing down the stairs.

This time Sasuke did grimace, letting out a soft sigh. He wasn't much for parties, social gatherings and such. To add salt to injury, whereas he preferred few number of friends, tonight he was going to a place where he knew no one, with a language barrier hindering him above all.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Naruto said, noticing the lingering silence.

Then again, he went all the way to a foreign country so he could get away from his usual comfort zone.  He could get along with locals and listen to their music, this was an opportunity that he wouldn't want to let it go waste, however uncomfortable it may appear at first glance.

"Sure, we can go." Sasuke thought for a second and added. "But if possible, let's not stay there for too long because I do want to rest after you made me wake up so early today."

Naruto laughed. "Ok, sounds like a plan."

–.–

At this point of the story, Sasuke already had the general feeling that he should get used to Brazil's less-than-desirable roads. Aside the highways, most of them aren't well-maintained, with several holes. Not all of them are made of asphalt, as they were going through a road full of dangerous curves that would make anyone with weak stomach queasy.

From afar, warm lights were illuminating a large house as they were getting closer to their destination. Naruto parked nearby, Sasuke was already recognizing the old man that helped them out yesterday. He was going to raise his hand as a greeting, however instead, Fernando quickly enveloped him with a bear hug, also giving another tight embrace towards Naruto once he freed Sasuke. An old lady, which Sasuke assumed to be his wife, also beamed giving a kiss on each side of his cheeks, patting on his shoulder. Sasuke patted back awkwardly. He still struggled getting used to brazilian hospitality.

Naruto made sure to explain that Sasuke couldn't speak one word in Portuguese, so while they were hurrying them to the dining room, the younger generation spoke with him with a broken English. Mouth-watering food arrived right away much to their delight and despite Sasuke's previous reservations, the dinner went without much of a hitch.

Stomachs filled, minds content, they all went outside with several instruments and some beer. Sasuke's eyes lit up once he noticed Fernando bringing some cachaça, Naruto shook his head as he approached them.

"You and your cachaça, I swear."

Sasuke offered a glass. "You can drink too if you want."

"Nah. Designated driver here, 'member? I won't drink much." As soon Naruto said those words, bunch of kids dragged him out of the way. Sasuke had to snort at the sight; one kid climbed all the way up to cling on Naruto's neck, little girls were holding him down on each arm, another kid hugged him tightly from behind resembling a koala clutching a branch.

The family started singing, with some playing an acoustic guitar, other settled the rhythm by drumming on any nearby surface. Naruto was dancing in clumsy steps with a girl who was literally half his size, with Fernando refilling more cachaça in Sasuke's cup. The group were chatting and taking photographs, their merry voices echoed through the night. Soon Fernando's elder mother (who Naruto jokingly said that she fancied Sasuke) brought freshly baked homemade cakes, even though Sasuke was still full from the dinner and wasn't a fan of sweets, he took a tentative bite on the carrot cake, admitting that it was delicious.

Quietly sipping his glass, Sasuke let the sounds of music and chattering drown him in, lights becoming a blur, making his body light. The people playing music were far from being professional, but they sang full of emotion and vigor, with an easy melody that would make him hum along. He could swear he was getting drunk, not only from all the alcohol he ingested, but from all this happiness injecting in his system.

He noticed that Naruto with the kids, as well as some adults, were picking up some flashlights. He growled out. "Where are you going?"

Blue eyes blinked at the sudden question. "We're out for a walk around the farm."

Hn. "I'll go." Sasuke muttered as he stood up, joining the group. It was more difficult to coordinate his limbs in his inebriated state, nevertheless he managed to follow them with considerable grace. However, as they were taking too long walking through tall grass fields, all Sasuke wanted was to lie down and rest.

Naruto saw that the brunet was falling behind, so he took a few steps back and asked. "You alright there?"

 A black eyebrow was raised, as the group were going inside a dimly lit forest. "Why are they going in there?"

"Oh. They said that this forest have some owls so they went there to check it out." Naruto shrugged one shoulder. "So let's go?"

Sighing, Sasuke sat in one of the grass hills, grumbling. "I think I'm fine here."

"Oh um…sure?" Naruto sat next to him.

"You can go if you want."

"Nah, I think I'm fine baby-sitting you drunkard." Naruto chuckled despite Sasuke's glare.

The grass felt so fresh and nice that he didn't resist to lay down on it, feeling Naruto's body also dropping next to him as they admired the night sky.

"Isn't this amazing?" Sasuke whispered.

Naruto turned his head to stare at him. "What?"

"I traveled miles, oceans away from my country…and here I am, finally being able to admire something that I can see anywhere. And yet, this is probably the first time I had properly gaze upon it…and see how vast it is, and how our lives feel so…significantly small. We're just a speck in this whole universe."

Naruto felt his heart clenching, but ignored as he said. "Our lives might be insignificant in this universe, but here we are, living and having all those questions about meaning of life for over thousands of years. Our own lives will never be insignificant to us."

"True. I do want to live life to the fullest. Or else I wouldn't be here, going along with every crazy idea you'd cook up out of nowhere." Sasuke smirked.

"You loved it, just admit it."

Sasuke snorted, focusing his eyes towards the sky, many stars bright in the darkness of that night. "Then when you see this sky, how we're insignificant…sometimes it feels like all the torment we're suffering while we're living are all so meaningless right."

Naruto sat up, staring down towards Sasuke. "You…sound you were pretty unhappy before coming here."

Sasuke huffed, acquiescing to confess some facets of himself. "Unhappy is too much of a strong word. Dissatisfied is more like it."

Naruto hummed, interlacing his fingers and letting his hands resting on his lap.

"All these kinds of questions we talked about throughout the day, about life and spending my time…it was haunting me almost every day. At first when I was going along with everyone, finishing college, finding a successful job, buying a house…it felt like it's the natural course for me. But years passed by, and it was like I really didn't experience it at all…and in one blink, another month was over."

"Well...Am I doing this right, is this really the way to go…those are all questions that passed through everyone's head, so you don't have to torture yourself so much over this." Naruto replied.

"Actually, I'm not unhappy with my life, like I've said." Sasuke rebutted. "I admit, I'm one of the small portion of population who have a privileged status, I can think about those sorts of things while many are scrapping for survival. But then I remember that I only have one chance of this life. One life and no turning back. If I'm only having this one life, I want to remember every second of it, instead of feeling that it's slipping away."

"And that's how you wound up coming here?"

"Hn." Sasuke crossed his arms. "I couldn't bare this any longer, doing the same thing over and over again, until I was dead. And that's how this fact pushed me to buy the first ticket available to Brazil."

This affirmation took Naruto by surprise as he inquired. "If you felt that your life headed this way, what pushed you to change it so suddenly?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm turning 30 in five days."

"WHa─WHAT─wait, really??" Naruto jumped, Sasuke also flinched the sudden movement. "Congrats man! No wait, in five days…wait, why are you─what─how─you don't regret this?"

Sasuke mulled for a while. "Even though you forced me to jump in some deadly waterfall─" He smirked.

"You loved it ok! You loved it─and stop exaggerating, it wasn't deadly─" Naruto protested.

Sasuke snorted. "I'm glad that I'm here. Doing things that I normally wouldn't do, experience things that I never had the luxury to do before…this is incredible."

Naruto stared in wonder, eyes fixed on Sasuke's soft features in that dark night. He placed his flashlight closer between them, body moving without thinking until his lips reached to touch Sasuke's.

He had few seconds relishing that soft contact, before realizing that the other young man wasn't returning the kiss. Naruto backed away. "Shit sorry, I shouldn't have done that, you can punch me if you want─"

Sasuke silenced him by dragging him close by the back of his neck, nibbling his lower lip.

Naruto made a strangled moan, hands reaching to stroke Sasuke's pale cheek as he moved closer, face angling to deepen the kiss. He vaguely felt long fingers combing his blond hair as his mouth was caressed so softly, exploring every part of their silken lips. Lost in those pleasurable sensations, Naruto let his hands to hold securely Sasuke's waist as Sasuke pulled him even closer, passion increasing within each kiss.

They heard some voices coming closer, signalizing that the group were returning from their expedition. They detached their mouths with a little bit of regret, Naruto greeted the kids back with his face flushed and lips still tingling. He risked a glance backwards, with Sasuke's hair mussed out looking quite…adorable. Naruto almost wanted to kiss him right here right there, consequences be damned.

They stayed few more minutes talking with the family, preparing their departure as the children were getting sleepy. Sasuke and Naruto bid them all farewell with more tight hugs and kisses on the cheek, the family even gave them some leftovers for the next day.

Once Naruto was driving all the way back to hostel with a wordless Sasuke by his side, reality finally sank in. He shouldn't have done that, not when Sasuke was drunk so he probably wasn't thinking straight. And now that the alcohol was slowly leaving his system, maybe the brunet was having second thoughts?

However, after this brief panic attack, the air between them didn't feel awkward or misplaced. Sasuke was even humming quietly, of all people, helping in guiding with GPS. He did appear to have sobered up, though didn't question their last…activity, Naruto didn't want to pressure him too.

They were back to hostel in no time, Sasuke breathing a sigh of relief as he muttered that he wanted to take a bath first. Fidgeting, Naruto listened to the sound of shower running as he grabbed his clothes. Once the bathroom door was opened with Naruto sitting on the bed, the blond man stood up rigid when Sasuke called his name. It was his turn to bathe, he attempted not to overthink too much, not wanting to pressure for answers.

He exited the bathroom, Sasuke was already on the bed with his back facing him. An unpleasant squirmed on his belly, Naruto concluded that this was probably how they were going to end the night, as he settled to lay down on his side.

Sasuke turned around, onyx eyes boring to his own.

Uncertainty and blurred desire lingered between them until Naruto chewed his lower lip, breaking their eye contact. "Have a good night?" He muttered.

With a startle, blue eyes widened when Sasuke's fingertips reached his face, reconnecting their gazes. The inscrutable array of emotion reached his dark eyes giving him a certain vulnerability, silently beckoning Naruto to kiss him again.

He covered his mouth with Sasuke's, both leaning closer till their noses bumped lightly. With his hands cradling Sasuke's head, he continued to seek this nameless amorphous feelings, letting these surge and involve him completely with each pleasured hum, caress and soft bite. Sasuke released him with a wet smack, his fingers brushing the tanned temple. Naruto whispered. "I thought you weren't interested."

"I thought you weren't gay." Sasuke answered, shifting to fit their bodies together.

Naruto raised an amused smile. "I'm not. I'm bi." He chuckled from Sasuke's dawning expression. "Should we stop?"

Black eyes narrowed in annoyance, hands resting on Naruto's collarbone.

Naruto approached till their faces were inches apart, breaths mingling with their increasing heartbeats. "Or do you want to continue?"

Sasuke captured his lips once again, and this was all he needed to melt under this kiss. A rush of excitement ran through his veins when Naruto called his name with a choked gasp, opening his mouth and letting their tongues move slickly. Sturdy hands clasped on each side of his body, Sasuke moaned as they continued exploring their mouths, molten desire escalating within each kiss.  

With Naruto pushing forward till every inch of his body covered his own, Sasuke groaned when Naruto grinded their lower halves, his arousal awakening. The friction of their thin cotton pants were maddening, his cock was hardening and filling up as Naruto continued to thrust, lips hungrily devouring his mouth. His legs widened as their hips were undulating together, their yearning bringing an urgency that couldn't allow them one second to breathe or think. Sasuke slithered his hand in Naruto's white t-shirt, letting his palm feel each expanse of that warm skin and lithe torso. His thumb found a hardened nipple so he lightly twisted under the labored breaths of his lover. Liquid lust ran ablaze when Naruto detached their mouths with a sensual moan, one deep thrust drawing their hot cocks together also made him groan loudly.  

All those warm caresses, touches and kisses were driving him crazy, throwing any remaining hesitation to the wind. Sasuke's hands glided till he felt Naruto's buttocks, sinking his fingers in those soft mounds of flesh as Naruto straddled him. Their pleasured gasps and hisses were increasing in cadence to their thrusts, carnal frenzy rousing their bodies as they hurried to their peak.

Sasuke barely registered as his hands were dragging Naruto's pants down and freeing the glistening cock, pre-cum flowing on the slit. Licking his lips, he also released his own erection, moaning huskily when Naruto's hands brought their hardened flesh together, pumping.

"Sasuke…" Naruto keened, fingers moving in a blurred speed. Sasuke swallowed, licking Naruto's lower lip, their mouths kissing wetly and sloppy. Naruto came with a ragged shout, cum spurting all over their bodies and leaking on Sasuke's stomach. With one last grunt, Sasuke also orgasmed, bursts of semen reaching Naruto's cheek, blending with their sweat and scorching bodies.

They were still recovering from their high when Sasuke nibbled Naruto's lower lip, his mouth moving tenderly, coaxing him to respond. For the moment, all the noises heard in that quiet night were lips smacking and sliding, meeting over and over again. This time they kissed with their eyelids half-mast, as Naruto gazed upon Sasuke's soulful expression, his heart throbbing. Sasuke released him at last, looking so debauched and delicious that Naruto could feel his erection stirring again. However, dark eyes closed with a pleased sigh, Sasuke relaxed his body completely, uncaring to all the evidence of their tryst still covering his belly.

Naruto blinked few times before lifting a fond smile, also joining his slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: That's it for now guys. Three chapters in a row. Reviews pleaaaseeeee.


	4. Itinerary 4

Naruto exhaled contentedly, stretching his limbs. It’s great whenever he could wake up this naturally, brain satiated as he prepared for another day. He turned around, yawning a little.

He met an empty space.

Naruto attempted to ignore the cold pit on his stomach, but he knew better. Sasuke never woke up before him, and considering that it’s still early morning, chances that this was merely a coincidence was pretty thin.

He kicked the blankets off, also cursing his own impulsiveness. He rarely engaged on casual sex and he had a policy in not getting involved this way with any travel companions. Why did he decide to jump in so easily onto Sasuke’s bed?

As he was washing off the cum caking on his stomach, Naruto let out a loud groan, unsure the next steps he should take. He noticed that Sasuke’s luggage were still in the room, which meant that he didn’t bolt out (yet), though he might call off the rest of the trip. And while Naruto could probably take care of himself under those circumstances, it’d be a shame, since he was enjoying Sasuke’s company.

Jesus, was last night’s groping this bad that he’d cancel the entire trip?

Dispelling those negatives thoughts with a vigorous shake, Naruto put on his t-shirt, walking to the hostel’s dining room. There were already several people serving themselves with breakfast, as he recognized the spiky dark hairs from Sasuke.

Inhaling, Naruto approached the young man in slow hesitant steps, making sure Sasuke would notice his presence. However, the brunet appeared to be lost in his own world. His shoulders turned rigid when Naruto poked him from behind.

“Uh…hey. Morning.”

Sasuke acknowledged with a nod, casting a furtive glance towards him.

“Can I sit next to you?”

This time Sasuke threw a confused look, grumbling. “We already ate together before, there’s no need to ask for it.”

“Yeah, sure but…” Naruto muttered, words dying on his throat. He picked up a clean plate and a mug, going to the buffet table and grabbing some bread and butter with coffee.

Sitting next Sasuke as the latter was munching some sliced apple, Naruto attempted his best to read him, but the other man was one well lapidated mask of nonchalance.

His hands were twitching to grab Sasuke by the arm and demand some explanation but he knew that this wasn't the best course of action. Obviously the brunet was ignoring thoroughly the whole situation that happened last night, though he was still invested enough to continue this trip alongside with Naruto. And while usually Naruto preferred a direct approach to come completely clean on both sides…he had to admit, he was kind of enjoying Sasuke's companionship a little too much. In a level that he wouldn't want to take one incorrect step and see it collapse it entirely.

Although it was sort of uncharacteristic of him, Naruto figured he better wait patiently to ease the current situation. He mumbled. "Um, so…ready for Pantanal?"

That appeared to be the correct decision as Sasuke answered in a way that almost came close to the same teasing tone before the incident. "If you meant the 4 whole hours of driving then yes, I'm absolutely thrilled."

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief, rolling with the flow. "I don't know what you're complaining about when I'm the one who is going to drive all the way through while you nap."

"A quick sleep is always the best way to conserve your energy even when you have to wake at unholy hours for a trip." Sasuke answered imperiously. When he met a deadpan expression back, he mended. "I'll help packing the gigantic mess that it's your luggage."

That appeared to appease Naruto a little, as he declared with a grin. "I'm going to throw all my wrinkled clothes just to see you folding them neatly!"

"Don't you dare." Was the nonplussed retort.

─.─.─.─.─

Blue eyes skidded to the left side, trying to glimpse at the slumbering body. Or at least he tried to, considering all the bumps on the road. Despite the previous playful bickering that continued while they were leaving the hostel, Sasuke took no time to shut his eyes once they were in the car, not giving opportunity for any further dialogue.

Naruto pursed his lips, disappointment lodging at the pit of his stomach. On the other hand, he should be relieved about this outcome, who knows how much he'd get emotionally involved with Sasuke. Not to mention that he had no idea when Sasuke was going back to his country too, so adding one more layer in this relationship will cause tons of complications, with the chance of Sasuke disappearing from his life soon.

Every common sense understood that it'd be better if they stick to travel buddies. And Sasuke's omission about last night events only piled up against Naruto's desires for more. Maybe Sasuke was into casual flings that this didn't amount to anything in his book? Or maybe Naruto misunderstood and Sasuke was still drunk when they did it, hence he probably forgot about the whole ordeal. Whatever it was, it was clear that he didn't want any further development between them and Naruto comprehended it, logically. Friends only, sounded like a safe choice.

Easier said than done.

Naruto already considered Sasuke attractive, but after last night it was increasingly difficult for him not to admire Sasuke's high cheekbones, his long eyelashes, the elegant way his body folded in quiet slumber. His libido wanted to caress those sturdy arms, fingers brushing the pale cheeks until his thumb would graze the lower lip, his body getting aroused watching Sasuke's flushed face, hearing those pleased moans. It might be easy for Sasuke to ignore it, but Naruto would rather trade his right arm than fake that he totally forgot something this intense like, you know, grinding their bodies while kissing the living daylights out of each other last night.

Ugh…he's not going to torture himself mulling over this for too long. Better wait for their heads to cool down before making any decision.

Sasuke woke up after they made a quick stop at the gas station, studying the map as they were getting close to the next inn they would spend the night. They arrived soon thanks to Sasuke's dutiful directions, putting their luggage and getting ready for their next adventure. Sasuke observed Naruto taking a quick selfie, showcasing the inn they had chosen.

They went along with a small group following a guide, since the following tour was going to be deep inside a dense forest. From what they had researched earlier, Pantanal is the world's largest wetland area, nurturing a biologically diverse number of plants and animals, some of them under the risk of extinction caused by hunting and deforestation.

Their form of transportation was somewhat unconventional, to say the least. Riding horses was a rudimental and yet somewhat pleasant way to move around, something that Sasuke had never tried before in his life. Those docile animals galloped in an unhurried pace, giving plenty opportunities to admire the scenery, which was probably one of the most fascinating contrasts he had witnessed so far. From arid area with trees widely spacing one to another, to thick dense water plants as the horses were riding in the rivers. Luckily he brought a spare pants for this occasion, watching his jeans getting all wet as they went through another river.

“Alright everyone, we’re getting close to a bird habitat and they are currently in their mating season. Please be quiet for as long as possible, put your cellphones in silent mode, if you wear anything in your body that might make a sound, I suggest you guys take it off.”

With an occasional murmur and shuffling, everyone obeyed the guide. Sasuke saw from afar Naruto removing his necklace and tucking safely in his pocket, while grabbing his cellphone.

As they were approaching, Sasuke was immediately thankful that his camera had a long ranged zoom lens. Large birds flew by and landed few meters away, idly taking their time to eat and twitter around. White colored birds with black head, contrasting with pink flamingos, they all watched the human visitors with a hint of fear and curiosity. 

An overly-excited poke caught his attention, as he saw Naruto pointing to a direction, barely containing his giddiness. Widening his eyes, he didn't waste one second to photograph a large family of capybaras eating grass, some even stared back at them. A deer passed through them as the group collectively gasped, his camera endlessly snapping for more of those exquisite moments, thankful of this given opportunity being this close to wild life.

It also helped to occupy their minds, last night's event forgotten.

Hopefully by the end of the day whatever remaining awkwardness would go away and Naruto might even let it slide whatever happened that night.

Sasuke swallowed dryly, memories reawakening as he stared the blond man's back. It'd be best to stay this way, ignoring the obvious pull he felt towards Naruto. He could reign it in, despite having the urge to kiss him like…four times over the course of the day.

The expedition ended without a hitch, rays of sunlight softly settling on the horizon, with tall trees brimming with lustrous golden flowers. After two hours of riding horses, the area between his legs ached a little, even though the guide let them rest from time to time.

Once they returned to the hotel, the guide thanked them for this wonderful journey, adding that if they enjoyed this adventure, they’d appreciate a night tour by boat. There were plenty other animals they might see, from owls, wolves to jaguars, as well as piranhas that they could fish and later grill.

“Also, in any case you're interested, we can make a quick detour to see a popular haunted place in Pantanal! Story is rumored that a ship, dated in 19th century, sank in the river. However, you might see this ship whenever there's a full moon, listening to sounds of them rowing their boats, alongside with their dead crewmen's voices and laughter."

Sasuke snorted, rolling his eyes. He turned around, ready to launch a unimpressed comment about it when he noticed Naruto's wide eyes, his skin white as sheet.

"Naruto?" Sasuke questioned.

The blond man jumped. "Yeah, what? What? Oh, anyways, time for some snack right!"

"…" Sasuke could feel his mouth twitching to a teasing smirk. "Were you actually scared of that ludicrous tale?"

"What? Me?!" Naruto shook his head. "'f course not! I mean, why would I─"

"Yeah, I guess it'd be a fun adventure if we went there right." Sasuke muttered, in an apparent calm and bored voice.

"Are you fucking insane?!" Naruto spluttered out. "We're not going, I'm not having a death wish going to a haunted place like that."

"So you're actually scared."

Naruto opened his mouth in automatic protest, reconsidered a little, then snapped it shut. "Ok, fine, maybe. You're not? It's fucking ghosts!"

"Ghosts don't exist Naruto. They are nothing but product of our wild imagination."

"How can you be so sure!"

"So far there isn't any scientific evidence to back it up." Sasuke's smirk widened. "Perhaps we should go there to investigate so I can prove it to you."

"No! No thanks."Naruto whined. "What if one of those ghosts notice you, and then they'd grab you and drag you to the river and then you'll drown, trashing around, water filling your lungs as─"

"Nothing like this will happen because ghosts. Don't. Exist. So don't worry about it."

Naruto continued to stare him back, face aghast.

"Still, I think it's a good idea to go for this night tour too. It'd be an unique experience."

The blond man deflated, agreeing. "Okay fine. But I want to steer reaaaaaaally far from that place!"

"Don't be so melodramatic." Sasuke snorted.

"I'm not! You're the one who is playing with fire, I tell you." Naruto huffed, crossing his arms.

"There's nothing to worry about over something fictional, after all."

"That's what you said!"

Sasuke was shaking his head, amused.

"You can go if you want. But don't come back to me later, screaming like a little girl if you end up seeing one."

"You're really scared of ghosts." Sasuke stated humorously, looking at Naruto's indignant expression, his lower lip jutted out.

Sasuke's body moved unbeknownst to himself, Naruto's heart was running miles per second at the growing proximity, eyelids feeling a little heavy. However, graphite eyes widened out of nowhere, as Naruto watched Sasuke’s expression ranging between surprise to sudden horror miliseconds after.

“This wasn’t supposed to be happening.” Sasuke grunted, turning around and retreating far from his grasp.

Naruto stood stock still, trying to process whatever the fuck had happened, until his system rebooted and he promptly followed after, bewildered. “What? Sasuke?"

Gazing on the squared back as the brunet was walking out in rigid, nervous steps, Naruto also sped up to catch him.

"Wait a mi─Sasuke! What the hell!"

A rush of dread crawled through his skin, electrifying his limbs to reach Sasuke, one hand clutching his shoulder.

"C'mon, talk to me, what wasn’t supposed to be happen─”

Naruto stopped startled when those steps took a halt, Sasuke spun around, hands reaching to touch his cheeks. Sasuke smashed his mouth onto his, pushing forward, unyielding, hard, a small tremor on his fingertips.

For a brief moment, his brain went haywire. In a wild surge, Naruto pressed back with a moan, his arms circling around Sasuke and deepening the kiss. His tongue slipped past his mouth, swallowing a pleasured gasp as hands gripped the blond hair, pulling him closer still. A spark was igniting his whole core, leaving him weak on his knees. Bodies swayed in tune within this passion, stealing breaths and mingling together, lips parting and interlocking, Naruto sucking his lower lip before fusing their mouths once again.

Sasuke was first to retreat gradually, sighing. "…this." He muttered, eyes still fixed on Naruto's mouth.

With his mind still hazy, Naruto managed to grunt out. "What?"

"This, I mean…" Sasuke shook his head. "It was supposed to be only a regular trip. Meeting new people, going to different places, exploring the country…I don't─"

He stopped on his tracks, a quick glance towards Naruto's face and gazing those soulful eyes that made him wanting to retract those words back.

Sasuke managed to blurt out. "I don't usually ─ get involved like this so easily. So what is happening between us is something out of ordinary for me. That's why this ─ anyways, with all things considered too, I wouldn't know…"

He released his arms around Naruto, huffing, his gaze aimed towards the ground.

Naruto took a while to absorb this new information, as well as filling remaining gaps from Sasuke's speech. It seemed that the brunet was also torn about whatever was happening between them, considering the delicate situation hanging in this precarious thread.

And since they both shared this predicament, it also raised several questions if this was really worth the trouble, despite being attracted to each other. It might imply a future with many tangled complications.

Letting out another sigh on his own, his blue eyes raised to the sky. He closed his eyelids, reaching a decision he hoped it'd comfort Sasuke and himself, even though his heart knew otherwise.

Inhaling, Naruto scratched the back of his head, muttering. “…um. Well. I think we’re grown up enough to do whatever we want without having any strings attached right?”

Sasuke frowned his eyebrows, staring back.

"Yeah, I mean…I guess there's no point turning back now right? So why can't we…I don't know…" Naruto shrugged awkwardly. "just go with the flow? I can't see anything bad doing this, and I guess it's as unplanned as this trip and so far this trip has been pretty good, so…why not?"

"That's a strange line of logic you used just there." He pointed out.

"Whatever. So…?"

Sasuke fell silent, absorbing this info. He licked his parched lips, mumbling. "So you don't mind…continuing this?"

"No, not at all. What's not to like?" Naruto widened a roguish grin, wagging his eyebrows. "I mean, I'm not blind."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, feeling way more appeased. "So we'll go whatever will go. And stop if necessary. Deal?"

"Yeah, yeah, deal. So what, do we have to spit our palms and shake our hands if you want? Maybe a blood pact?"

"Don't be so gross." Sasuke heard Naruto's loud stomach rumbling and snorted. "Let's go."

─.─.─.─.─

Their snack ended up being freshly picked bananas from a street vendor on the road. Naruto narrowed his eyes, noticing the distance coming from Sasuke while they were eating, despite their conversation minutes prior. Nodding to himself, he approached with his cellphone ready.

"You know something I remember? It's been days we've been traveling together and I still didn't get any photo with you! Come here."

Sasuke frowned, staring Naruto's cellphone screen as the latter was trying to adjust the angle to show them both. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. Now smile!" Snapping the photo, Naruto used his trademark grin, a heavy contrast with Sasuke's blasé expression. "C'mon you bastard, just smile."

The brunet merely maintained his bored stance.

"Just once, 's not gonna hurt. Why can't you pop up a smile? Are your teeth all crooked or what?" Naruto grumbled.

He raised an eyebrow in response.

Naruto gazed with equal unflappable disbelief towards this uncooperative partner. A light bulb flashed in his mind so he brightened up, raising his cellphone again.

"Just once more it'd be done. Is that ok?"

Sasuke made an unimpressed grunt, despite obeying Naruto by looking towards the screen.

The sound of shutter clicking was barely registered when Sasuke suddenly felt a very noisy, wet kiss landing on his cheek.

Slacking his jaw, Sasuke merely watched as Naruto was checking the photo, letting out a loud guffaw. "Oh my God, this was perfect. I'm definitely saving it."

"Naruto." Sasuke warned, his hands trying to grab the device.

"What? Hey, don't you dare!" Naruto raised his arms as far as he could get.

"Delete it. Right now."

"Aw really? But it's such a nice photo!"

Sasuke glowered.

"No seriously, look at it!" Naruto yowled, showing the picture. "You look so cute, c'mon, no harm done right."

Sasuke stared suspiciously, his deer caught in the headlights face and Naruto's lips on his cheeks. It'd look kind of endearing…if they really were a couple. His hands clenched at the admission, huffing.

"I swear I'm not going to post anywhere, it's going to be safely tuck in my cellphone. I promise."

Sasuke thinned his lips, eyes still focused on the photo. "Just this once."

"Really? Thanks!" Naruto got closer, and Sasuke wholeheartedly accepted the quick peck on his mouth. "Alright, but I still gotta post something on Instagram, so I'm going to use that boring photo we took before this ok."

"Do you really have to?" Sasuke drooled out.

"Yeah, ideally to maintain a certain feed I have to post at least once per day but I haven't done that since two days ago, so at least today I have to post something." Naruto muttered. "I'll tag you if you want, what's your Instagram?"

"I don't have any."

"What?!" Naruto sputtered.

"I'm not interested in those kinds of things, so I only have the bare minimum, like LinkedIN and Facebook."

"Hm, whatever old man." Naruto shrugged.

Sasuke observed as Naruto began writing the caption, the text being like 'I got a new travel mate in this trip in Brazil guys. Meet my boy toy Sasuke. Isn't he such a ray of sunshine?'

"Boy toy?" He voiced out.

"Yeah, my followers won't take it seriously if I make those kinds of jokes. If I only showed you with me, people would start nagging me all the time, if we're dating and all this kind of stuff."

Sasuke re-read the message once again, commenting. "In our conversation we had yesterday, I remember you mentioning that you traveled with other people before. You do these trips frequently?"

"Hm? Oh, I think I didn't explain to you before, but I've been on the road for 6 years." Naruto said.

"Really?" Sasuke couldn't contain the astonishment in his tone.

"Five to six years, give or take. Maybe more? I mean, I've done this since I graduated from college so yeah." The blond man muttered. "That's why I have to keep my Instagram account really active. You've seen me taking some photos before right?"

Sasuke nodded back.

"I actually have to stage a little to show some brands that are my sponsors. I have a good number of followers and my lifestyle fits with a certain type of brand, so they ask for me to do a little advertising for them sometimes."

He hummed, muttering. "That's quite fascinating."

"Ooooh, but it's really not as glamorous as most people think, I assure you. Most of the time they give me some gifts here and there, pay me for some trips but I have to go to some place to showcase their products…so I'm always short on money."

"It's still pretty interesting." Sasuke admitted. "It's also remarkable how our lives are completely different before I arrived here too."

Naruto raised his head, pensive. "Yeah, I guess. But I mean…I've been traveling around for so long. Sure, there are some things that it's still cool, like meeting new culture and people, however it kind of loses its magic after some years. So…" Blue eyes bored onto dark gray ones as he confessed. "You know when you wondered before if this is really the right way to go, wasting your life like this. I get it. I really do."

At the admission of this complicity, they shared a look, time stretching indefinitely.

Naruto was the one who broke the spell, muttering embarrassed that they should get ready for the night tour. After dinner, they paid the fees and traveled through boat, another pleasant experience watching wild animals in their natural habitat.

They returned to the inn chatting, feeling much at ease in comparison to the beginning of the day.

Their mutual desires were still there, there was no need to cloak it nevertheless. It's not like they needed to hasten for more too, but certainly were open for more possibilities if the chance would arise.

Once they were in their room, Sasuke was first to pick his pajamas, ready for his bath while Naruto was organizing his stuff. As he was relishing the hot water, Sasuke heard a soft knock on the door followed by Naruto’s voice asking if he could get inside. With a mental shrug, he allowed, assuming that Naruto just wanted to use the toilet and nothing else. What he didn’t expect was the blond man entering with one hand rubbing the back of his head, throwing furtive glances towards him.

Naruto cleared his throat, his cheeks burning red. “Uh…I don’t know how to explain this…” He gulped dryly, thankful for the thin mist covering Sasuke’s nude body.

As expected, a dark eyebrow was raised, waiting for further explanations.

“Yeah…anyways, can I share the bath with you? So we can save up some water.”

Sasuke snorted, rolling his eyes. “Naruto, if you want to join me, you could use a better excuse than this.”

“No, no, I’m serious.” Naruto scratched his head. “The landlady warned me, she only have one water tank so she asked we could share so everyone can take a bath in her inn.”

Sasuke blinked owlishly.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t know since she explained in Portuguese.”

“…hn.” Sasuke tried not to feel too disappointed at the admission.

While he was pouring shampoo on his hand, he heard Naruto muttering under his breath. “I certainly wouldn’t mind if anything more would happen though.”

Feeling his lips curving to a wicked smirk, Sasuke said. “Get in, you dumbass.”

Snorting, Naruto turned around, starting to take off his clothes. With the tanned back facing Sasuke, he took his time to observe his broad shoulders, strong back muscles, down to the round curves of his ass. Sasuke licked his lips, he had certainly felt its softness last night, but the visual stimuli was also rather fortuitous, so to speak. When he saw Naruto beginning to turn back, he returned his attention to the shampoo at hand, lathering on his hair through Naruto’s bewildered glance.

The blond man slowly opened the glass door, eyes looking everywhere but that tempting luscious body. “Excuse me.” He left a considerable distance between them, picking up the soap as his body was half turned away from Sasuke’s. Noticing the tense air permeating in between, he figured Naruto wouldn’t want to pressure him needlessly.

Sasuke began scrubbing his head, also unsure what he should do. Maybe they shouldn’t hurry unnecessarily, considering that their current situation was still on shaky grounds. Focusing on rubbing the dirt off the roots of his hair, his elbow felt something warm and soft, which promptly made Naruto mutter an apology, taking few steps farther from him. The shower box was too small for two grown men to share, so Sasuke attempted to continue his activity despite the limit of his movements.

“Uh…hey Sasuke?” Naruto said, tilting his head to one side. “I think you need to wash the back of your hair, I don’t see any shampoo in there.”

Huffing, Sasuke did as he was told, but the tiny space constricted him.

“Yeah no, a little bit to the right.” Naruto muttered. When Sasuke growled, rubbing his head haphazardly, Naruto said. “Hm, I guess that does it.”

Sasuke placed his head on the shower head, removing the excess of soap. He ran his head with his fingers, and much to his frustration, he still felt some oily sensation on the root. He always had an oily type of hair, needing at least two or three washes to clean it off. He dunked more shampoo on his head, scrubbing again.

“Maybe this shower is too small for us two.” Naruto muttered, placing the soap bar back to the holder.

“Hn.”

“Can you move a little? I want to wash off the soap from my body.”

“Just few more minutes.”

“I’m freezing you bastard.” Naruto snorted, crossing his arms.

“I’ll finish as soon as possible.”  Sasuke glared, rubbing his head with more vigor.

Naruto rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You want me to help you out? This way it'll soon be all over and you'll stop hogging all the shower."

Sasuke actually turned around to face him, face blank.

"Yeah, gimme your shampoo." Naruto said, already grabbing the shampoo and pouring some on his palm. He stared back at Sasuke, with one raised eyebrow, waiting for Sasuke to turn back.

After some considerable deliberation, Sasuke obeyed him, not wanting the dwell on the underlying domesticity of this moment. Fingertips woven through dark strands of hair, massaging through sturdy circular movements. Slowly but surely his shoulders were relaxing, sighing in approval as Naruto was lathering more shampoo, cleaning till the tip of his hair.

Sasuke heard a snicker.

Since Naruto's massage felt so nice, Sasuke ignored this. He felt however, Naruto gathering his hair locks to one point, then organizing them in a line in which he could assume into a mohawk hair style. This time he definitely heard the badly concealed chuckle.

"Naruto, what are you doing to my hair?" He muttered in an apparent monotone voice.

"Huh? I'm just scrubbing your hair, what else?" Naruto answered, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes from the singsong tone.

Naruto flattened his head, putting two finger and running through the shampoo foam in a spiral.

"Tah dah! It really looks like some whipped cream now."

"Naruto."

Ignoring the warning tone from Sasuke, Naruto continued his hair sculptures, shaping them up, his tongue peeking out while completely focused. He observed his handiwork with a satisfied nod. "I think this is a pretty convincing saiyajin hair, if I do say so myself."

"Naruto, stop playing with my hair."

Naruto snorted in response, picking up some of those strands and twirling it like a cowlick. A pale hand grabbed his wrist, mirthful blue eyes met stern black ones as Sasuke turned around. With the other hand blindly fumbling to find the shampoo bottle, he took several steps forward as Naruto was taking several steps back, mumbling. "Hey, you know this was all a jok─"

The shower blasted on Sasuke's head, washing away all the foam and making him look like a pissed off cat drenched with water.

"Pfft." Naruto started laughing despite Sasuke seething glare, adjusting his fringes to one side. "Now you completed the emo look. Ow ow ow─hey!" He chortled, wrestling with Sasuke as nimble fingers also wound up on his blond hair, scrubbing it pretty viciously. Naruto managed to grab both of his wrists, mischievous grin still wearing on his face, melting any possible wall that might be building inside him.

They stayed in this position, heavily breathing. Sasuke took this opportunity to look at the warmth lighting up Naruto's azure eyes, his full lips, the droplets that was sliding through the firm jaw, his neck to the collarbone. His gaze landed on Naruto's necklace, the sapphire jewel gleaming on the well built torso.

There was no hesitancy when their lips met so softly, hands loosely linking around the pale wrists. Sasuke tilted his head, mouths overlapping and matching.

Out of nowhere, the water from the shower decreased by its volumes, as Sasuke realized from Naruto's apologetic smile. "Can't waste water."

Chuckling, Sasuke pushed them till Naruto could feel the cold tiles behind his back, lips attached till he released with a wet smack. Half lidded eyes crossed each other's looks, full with scorching passion. With hands brushing the tanned cheeks Sasuke melded their mouths once again.

They let their lips glide sinuously, prying open and tasting the sweetness of these long kisses. Hands were touching freely every part of their skin, though they chose to keep it above the belt while they were exploring their mouths. Sasuke's close proximity and his warm body was making Naruto aroused however, even if he wanted to control it as much as possible.

But those sinful lips were shifting downwards, kissing his jaw, caressing his throat and drawing a long moan from Naruto. His fingers gripped the dark hair, lips pressing with increased urgency and yearn.

"Naruto─" Sasuke's gasp was a mixture of lust and surprise. The blond man stared down, his half-erect cock poking the pale thigh.

Pushing him away with his arms, he croaked out, a storm reigning behind those pair of blue eyes. "I will stop if you want to."

Sasuke gazed back their bodies apart within one arm's length. He soon eliminated this gap with their bodies fitting like jigsaw puzzle, a passionate kiss stoking their fire.

Naruto moaned loudly, widening his eyes when Sasuke began stroking his erection. His hands were moving through the length of his cock till was completely hard, before reaching to stimulate the sensitive head. Naruto put his arms over the pale shoulders with their mouths still fused, both gasping when his leg hooked around Sasuke's body, bringing them even tighter together.

His own hand was blindly groping for Sasuke's cock, stroking it fast and drinking his husky grunt. Sasuke shoved Naruto to the wall, open mouthed kisses no longer contained any finesse, simply letting their passion go frenzy. His thumb skimmed through the slit, darkened blue eyes electrifying his nerves, pre-cum flowing while Naruto thrust their erections together. The moist bathroom only echoed their harsh breathing and loud gasps, volume escalating as their hands were speeding up.

Naruto threw his head back, his body locked and orgasm titillating close to the core. A wanton scream tore from his throat when Sasuke sucked hard, hips harshly thrusting forward. Naruto bucked, jets of semen erupting as Sasuke's cum also mingled with his.

While their minds were still swimming from this ecstasy, they stared at each other. No words were needed now, no words were spoken. They wanted more.

They would get more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This story is roughly like "let's not get emotionally involved" while I'm whispering "you guys already aaaaaaaaaaareeeee".
> 
> ANYWAYS, reviews pleaseeeee!!! It feeds my soul.


	5. Itinerary 5

Traveling also meant sometimes you have to wake up at the crack of dawn because you bought the cheapest available airplane tickets. Sasuke glared as the sun still didn't come up in the horizon and even Naruto, who is an early riser, let out a rather long, tired yawn.

"Alright…ready for Salvador?" He said, checking the luggage and closing the trunk's lid.

Sasuke observed as the blond man yawned once again, scratching the back of his head. "You want me to drive? I mean, you do most morning drives, maybe I should help every once in a while."

Naruto blinked, then sputtered. "Nah, 's okay. You always drive on the afternoons and night, so it's only fair I'd drive on mornings." Naruto quickly learned the lesson in not letting Sasuke go anywhere close to the driver's seat in those particular moments. He’s honestly the grouchiest person ever while half awake, a hazard to all, snapping at every little mistake other drivers would do, easily losing patience and complaining about everything. Once, Sasuke sped up on a steep curve while attempting to overtake a slower car. Naruto could almost see his life flashing through his eyes as he stared down the dangerous cliff through the car window. He shuddered at the memory, now fully awake.

As they were fastening their seatbelts, Naruto returned to his usual peppy self, placing a quick peck on his lips while checking the map.

Sasuke licked his lips, savoring the soft aftertaste. This whole agreement they had concocted ended up being better than expected, despite the rocky start. He was certainly beginning to enjoy its perks, the open way Naruto was showing his affections towards him. 

"So!" Naruto grinned widely. "Since it's early morning and the sun hasn't been up, I've heard that close by there's a sightseeing spot where you can watch the sunrise! And it's actually on the way to the airport too."

Sasuke yawned. "Not interested."

"…I thought you traveled all the way to Brazil to experience things you wouldn't do normally?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to do every little thing available out there. We can watch nice sunrises anywhere else."

"But it'll only take half an hour." Naruto grouched.

"Half an hour to go, another half an hour I have to keep myself awake on the way. How about instead, you could drive all the way through while I'm napping. I'm definitely favoring this other option."

"Lazy bones."

"Selective attitude is the better wording."

"Grouchy bastard."

"You can waste your time however you want with those meaningless slanders, though I must point out that those precious hours can be better used with you driving and me sleeping."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Seriously, it's only about half an hour, it wouldn't hurt you would it? After all, I'm the one driving here and I'm sure it's not going to take too long for you to drag your ass a little instead of cooping up in the car, snoozing all the way through."

"From my previous experiences so far, my 'dragging ass' will definitely compromise with climbing up a mountain on steep muddy roads and slippery rocks, so I'm passing this troublesome task."

Naruto wrinkled his nose, then threw his hands to the air. "…whatever! But think about it, maybe it's a really pretty sunrise and who knows when it'll be the next time we'll be here so why shouldn't use this opportunity to─"

Sasuke sighed, already dreading the following diatribe that would consume the following minutes. He let those complaints run for a while, as he unbuckled his seatbelt, shifting closer.

Too absorbed with his own diatribe, Naruto didn't notice Sasuke's proximity until a warm hand cupped his cheek, neck turning to face him. "Sasuke, wha─" Whatever incoming inquiry was suddenly drowned out with a press of lips, a hand cradling his neck as he parted his mouth.

"W-wait a minute bastard─" Naruto attempted to regain his ground, despite his hands were already pulling Sasuke even closer. "I'm not done yet…"

"Mm…" Sasuke hummed, and within each push and pull of lips, their kisses increased in passion. He indulged himself the intensity of Naruto's flavor, groaning as they were deepening their kisses.

When they broke apart to breathe a little, Sasuke stared deep within those hazy blue eyes, whispering, lips brushing together. "Well." He patted playfully Naruto's face. "Look at the sun peeking out the horizon. We should get going."

Naruto actually took a while to sink in, mumbling. "What…?"

Sasuke nodded. "We can't risk arriving late at the airport can we? Let's go."

With his jaw still slack, Naruto growled. "You bastard, did you kiss me just so you can distract me from driving to that hill?!"

"Ten minutes Naruto." Sasuke adjusted himself around his seat, letting his chin rest on the back of his hand. "You don't want to miss the flight after all, right?"

Despite being a little miffed, Naruto rolled his eyes, starting the car. "I'm getting my revenge soon."

"Hn." Sasuke snorted, a hint of smile widening on his lips.

─.─.─.─

Salvador. The first capital of Brazil, one of the oldest city of that country. A place rich for its historical elements, cultural significance and many ethnicities combined there.

It was also hot. Fucking hot. Sasuke was fanning his face with the map of the city, sweating profusely despite wearing a t-shirt and denim shorts. This didn't feel like it's winter at all, sun blistering on their heads and humid air, almost making hard to breathe.

"Lend me your map for a second, I need to check one thing."

Sasuke threw him a dirty glare, before sighing and shoving the map on his chest. Salvador's architecture is similar to Ouro Preto's, which was the reason he questioned the need to visit this city while they were planning the next trip. On top of that, Salvador was also a popular choice for foreigners to visit, and Sasuke didn't want cliché options in his itinerary. However, Naruto assured that it'd be worthwhile to spend few days there.

At first, Sasuke wasn't very impressed. After a while, he noticed strong Angolan elements being melded within the city, ladies wearing intricate white dresses while they performed some rituals or sold food. Naruto explained that those ladies were priests from a religion originated in Salvador, named as Candomblé. Back in the colonial era, slaves couldn't practice their own religion under the fear of catholic persecution thus they cloaked the veneration of their gods with catholic saints.

As Naruto was still trying to find a theater that exhibited African dances featuring the gods from this religion, he bought acarajé with vatapá to Sasuke. Wrapped with napkins, it was some kind of round croquette, stuffed with tomatoes, assorted sauces and shrimps. Sasuke took a generous bite, reveling the delicious mixture of flavors and textures, an unique street food only encountered in this city. Going to such historical place in Brazil also meant another round of visiting churches once again, but considering that Salvador used to be the center of this country meant that most of the riches and talented painters left their mark in this city.

It was almost time for dinner, they began searching for a prestigious restaurant around the region, though it was taking a considerable effort since it was getting dark and the streets were all around confusing. Naruto started scrolling down his cellphone, checking the information with the current spot they were walking through. Too caught up with his own devices, Naruto simply grabbed Sasuke’s hand while he guided through the appointed place, eyes still glued to the screen.

Sasuke stiffened at once, unsure as he gazed down their linked hands. However, although the majority pay no heed to their interaction, some people began glaring and murmuring in disapproval around them. Whatever initial embarrassment he might had felt when Naruto held his hand had instantly dropped as Sasuke sniffed in equal derision, scrunching his nose.

Naruto’s train of thought halted when he felt sturdy fingers gripping tighter, a raised eyebrow thrown in inquiry but the black haired man continued gazing back in apparent apathy. As the growing whispers and snappish grumbles were noticed, he assessed the situation at once, an amused grin widening despite receiving a narrowing of eyes in response.

Harrumphing, Sasuke congratulated himself for the feat of his blood vessels going nowhere near to his pale cheeks when blue eyes softened, Naruto brought his hand close to his lips and tenderly kissed his knuckles. No, he’s not going to blush like a silly schoolgirl even when Naruto placed his hand on his chest, approaching till nibbled his mouth, a tongue tracing his lip.

Some scoffs and random gibberish were uttered as the crowd scurried away through Sasuke’s aloof gaze. He felt the added weight of Naruto’s head on his shoulder,  _certainly_ noticing the vibrations coming through his snickers. He rolled his eyes, shifting with his mouth close to the tanned earlobe, relishing the goosebumps rising from his husky whisper:

“If I knew you were such an exhibitionist I’d shove your pants down and suck your cock in front of everybody.”

Naruto did feel his face getting hotter, but managed to snort nevertheless. “I want to make them stop being such assholes around people like us, not getting arrested for indecency. So don’t get too ahead of yourself bastard.”

Sasuke snorted. Even if he was initially confused how easily he went along with Naruto's pranks, he was impressed with himself that he was getting so comfortable around the blond man that he was starting to crack jokes. Sardonic and dry ones, though they were still jokes nevertheless.

They got another pleasant dinner, another pleasant night ending with passionate kisses, bed squeaking while they were grinding. Sasuke knew that as they were uncovering deeper the depths of this…relationship, he was becoming further entangled with its possible complications. This wasn't enough…it was never enough. As he was stroking Naruto to completion, drinking his gasps and moans, Sasuke wanted more. But he didn't know if it made sense to take another step further, since they agreed to keep it casual, nothing else.

This quenched his needs for now though, even if he was tucking himself closer to Naruto's head, letting the tanned arm sling around his waist in a possessive hold.

He didn't want to think about this─…didn't want to keep himself awake.

─.─.─.─

After spending another day visiting forts and mausoleums in Salvador, they began moving to the next city, with Sasuke on the driver's seat and Naruto admiring the passing view.

"Hey Sasuke, Sasuke─!" Naruto tugged his sleeve few times.

"What now." Was his monotone question.

"I just saw an ad for a handcraft shop few minutes away! We should visit it!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Haven't we already visit a gigantic market in Salvador, selling all type of products of this kind?"

"But maybe they have a good reason to sell it outside the city. Maybe they have something unique and worth the visit."

"Maybe it'll be a waste of time."

Naruto smiled, unfazed. "They also brew some special kind of cachaça I'm sure you'll be interested in."

Was he really becoming someone easy to be manipulated…? Sasuke wondered, as he was sipping a sample the shop owner offered to him.

Naruto was looking for a souvenir, wanting to find something distinguishable to send to his parents. He always sent tokens of the places he went, showing with a hint of amusement to Sasuke a photo of his parents' living room becoming packed with trinkets and varied statues. He also talked with them through the cellphone frequently, as Sasuke noticed their close relationship through Naruto's warm tone of voice.

In the end, the shop had a peculiar style since the family owning the business handcrafted their products. Some were crude and lacked refinement, but there were some vases with delicate paintings and ornaments that caught his eye. Their offered prices were also fairly low, even though their overall quality was higher than the capital's too.

Once Naruto bought a vase inspired by African tribes, he wondered while packing it with bubble wrap. "They were really nice, helpful people. It's too bad there aren't many tourists who visit their shop."

Sasuke perused around the place, muttering. "Well, most of the tourists wouldn't venture going outside Salvador, so they already have a slight disadvantage in terms of location. Still, their shop is not too far from downtown and they have several interesting assets, so all they have to do is changing strategies to boost their sales."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Okay…? Like, what kind of strategies?"

Sasuke shrugged. "What I'm saying is probably nothing out of the norm, but first they could talk with some travel agencies, let the tourist groups visit their shop while they split the fares. Then, they could recheck their inventory, see which ones sells best and which should stop producing. Make their products ascend to art pieces by limiting the numbers and tweak few details here and there."

Naruto stared wide eyed as Sasuke continued his explanation, now being filled with complicated jargons and statistics.

"Another thing that they could do is create a youtube channel or instagram. Short videos explaining the process of creation in an engaging way, making collaboration with famed youtubers. Sell it to foreigners so it can bring more prestige to their own brand. If they start an instagram account, at least upload twice per week, within the spam of 9 pm to 11 pm, which is usually the highest traffic. Then once you have enough followers and fans, up your brand value to 50%, buy higher quality materials to create masterpieces. With those they can sell it 5 times the original price but guarantee their customers their satisfaction by making personal packages and─"

Sasuke stopped his whole speech from the long silence coming from Naruto, who was gazing back with considerable interest.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry, force of habit."

Naruto shook his head, beaming. "It's related to your work then?"

"Yes, I'm in a consulting business. There are usually some companies who are dissatisfied with their slow growth, or even some who are a little bit under water, so we usually make a full assessment, then give detailed suggestions to follow through. I'm actually in the financial and marketing department though."

"That sounds really cool. Helping companies to grow."

"I'm sure it doesn't sound as exciting like all the stories you told me while you were in Chile." Sasuke muttered.

"Nah, it's still interesting. Plus, I know that my mouth run miles per second so it's nice to take a break and actually know more about you from time to time. At least now I'm sure you really like your job, you're just taking a breather." Naruto stared the vase he just bought and declared. "You know what, I really think you gave plenty of nice ideas." He suddenly went back to talk with the family, with Sasuke watching bewildered the excited chat.

The mother approached him and began shaking his hand, followed by her husband and their eldest daughter. Despite returning the vigorous shake, Sasuke grumbled. "What is happening right now Naruto?"

 "Oh, I just translated all the explanation you gave me to them. Then first thing I'm gonna do once we arrive in the hotel is make some instagram posts about the vase I bought. Hopefully it'll be the first step for them to get more customers."

Sasuke shuffled a little, crossing his arms. "All those ideas were nothing out of ordinary."

"Nah, I'm sure you helped them out plenty." Naruto finished packing and placed the vase in the car's trunk, before he held Sasuke's face with his hand and pressed his lips unto his.

It was supposed to be a simple touch, a mere mouth to mouth contact. And yet, why did this almost lit his body on fire; as Sasuke forced himself to suppress this as much as he could.

He returned this tender kiss, eyes a little glazed as he whispered. "Let's get going."

─.─.─.─

Sunlight was peeking through the blinds, Sasuke grasped few threads of his conscience as he battled the urge to sigh. He was already dreading Naruto's chirpy voice as the blond man would clamor for him to wake up, or else they would miss whatever activity they would have that day.

However, after few extra minutes snoozing, he was actually missing the boisterous voice, opening wide his windows and rendering him blind (and deaf). After feeling sufficiently replenished, he grabbed his cellphone nearby and to his surprise, it was 10 o' clock.

"Morning."

Yawning discreetly, Sasuke sat up to roughly stare towards Naruto's form, unrecognizable with the dim lit room. He shuffled the blinds to let more light seep through, now seeing a tray filled with croissant, tomato slices, several fruits, coffee and orange juice.

Naruto closed their gap with a swift kiss. "Happy birthday!"

Sasuke puzzled gaze dawned to comprehension as he grumbled. "Ah."

Deadpanned blue eyes looked back. "Yes. Me so excited. My birthday. Hooray."

Sasuke took a bite of his croissant and said. "After twenty years or something, celebrating birthdays kind of lose its flavor as you're getting older."

"Are you serious?!" Naruto blurted out. "I'm gonna keep celebrating my birthdays till I'm an senile old man moving only by wheelchair!"

"Hn. Is this why you let me sleep however I wanted this time?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, since it's your birthday."

"And what are we going to do now?"

"Nothing."

Sasuke stopped munching. "Nothing?"

"Yeah, nothing. Why do you think I chose this fancier hotel in front of a beach? We're going to spend the whole day here! Get your sunscreen ready, I want to see your pale ass skin getting tanned for once."

Sasuke went to the veranda, taking some time to admire the long coconut trees, soft sand and crystalline water beckoning him with its calm waves.

Feeling much more energized, he started changing to swim trunks, deliberately ignoring Naruto's sly stare towards his ass. After few stretches here and there as he finished his breakfast, grabbing all necessary items in his sling bag as they walked towards the beach.

The sudden splash is all Sasuke needed to know that Naruto already dove to the sea, followed by jubilant shouts and more splashes all around. Still, he took his time to apply his sunscreen, taking a deep breath letting the sun warm his skin. Placing a large towel on the sand, Sasuke laid down, appreciating the soft sounds of breeze and tides crashing to the rocks. He closed his eyes, the calm atmosphere soothing him almost like a balm. He gingerly opened up again, only to see Naruto sitting next to him, wet from head to toe.

"I almost thought you took a nap once again, even after you woke up this late." He grinned.

"I actually did." Sasuke mumbled, figuring it was also time for him to dip inside. He patted away all the sand from his body, throwing a glance backwards.

Naruto blinked. "Oh. Wait a minute. Sasuke, you have some space left in your bag?"

"Yes…why?"

Naruto took his necklace out and offered to Sasuke. "While I was swimming I got a little scared that it might come out or something, so I thought it'd be better if it's tucked safely in your bag."

Sasuke held it for a while, the aquamarine stone glittering on his milky colored palm. It didn't appear to be an ordinary stone, judging by the size of it and the fact that it didn't had any dirt inside. There were also two metal balls on each size of the stone, and the urge to make a phallic joke was almost rolling to Sasuke's tongue though he curbed it in. "This looks pretty expensive. Maybe I should lie that I lost it so I can sell it to a pawn shop."

Naruto chortled. "Please don't. It's a family memento, it's pretty important to me."

"Really?" Sasuke played with it on his fingers. "Even if─"

"Yeah, even if it looked like a dick, I know you were dying to make this kind of comment the moment I placed in your hand." Naruto grabbed it back, placing in Sasuke's bag when Sasuke unzipped a compartment. He stared the brunet making stretching exercises, and muttered, hesitant. "Come to think about it, how come your family were ok with you spending your birthday here?"

 Sasuke sighed, turning to face him. Huffing, he growled. "Well, my parents were certainly not happy about it at all. I mean…my mother was planning something for my birthday, so I had to tell them my plans."

"Oh? But you managed to convince them?"

Sasuke squared his shoulders, before shrugging it off. "There's not much need to talk with them anyways. My mother was understanding but didn't agree in the end, my older brother was the only one who applauded it. My father thought it was too risky."

"Since Brazil is a dangerous country…? Or because you were travelling by yourself…?"

"Because I might ruin my career doing such impulsive decision. And I might get fired too."

"Um…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "What he said actually make sense too, after all he cares about you so he fears for your safety."

"Hn."

"Well…" The blond man brightened up. "I guess we just have to have the best time of our lives to prove him that your decision is right!"

Momentarily taken aback, Sasuke studied Naruto's wide grin. He smirked. "That's one way to put it, I guess."

"Yeah yeah yeah, always such a ray of sunshine." Naruto muttered. He started sprinting. "I bet I'm gonna reach the other side of the beach faster than you will!"

"It's on." Sasuke followed suit.

Thus, they spent the whole afternoon relaxing at the beach, exploring the neighborhood and dipping in the sea some more. They found an institute dedicated on the preservation of sea turtles, the sole adults in the midst of hyperactive kids as they were listening to the guide's explanation.

Despite all, both were amused interacting with some of the turtles swimming in their pools even managing to touch the smallest ones for a brief period. The guide explained that this type of sea turtle arrives twice per year in that beach for reproduction, laying eggs by night as the babies would swim back to the ocean at twilight.

"I might make an exception to wake up in this unholy hour if we manage to watch those turtles crawling back to the ocean." Sasuke said.

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed. "Well, unfortunately this event only happens on March and August."

"…hn." Sasuke grumbled, his eyes still glancing on the cute little turtle babies.

"Next time then!" Naruto declared, his voice optimistic and hopeful.

Under the piercing gaze coming from those dark eyes, Naruto's smile faltered a bit receiving no kind of response.

Sasuke turned around, snorting.

"Your eloquence always astound me, bastard." Naruto rolled his eyes, following behind.

─.─.─.─

Moonlight cast a long shadow of their unhurried steps, their eyes gazing the starry sky. Overall, his birth date was overall pleasant, charming by the lack of impact. It's nice to break the pace, the previous birthdays were either big parties or nights filled with booze in some fancy bar.

Sasuke managed to convince Naruto to buy only a small cake, which most of it the blond man ate. Now they were returning to their hotel, certain that he'd have a comfortable sleep with the sounds of the sea as a lullaby.

He barely opened their door until he was pinned by Naruto, his mouth attacking the back of his neck. Sasuke grunted, his own cock rising when he felt Naruto's erection rubbing on his ass.

"Happy birthday Sasuke." Naruto's husky whisper made him shiver in response. "Time to get your present."

Sasuke turned around, mouths already open for a searing kiss. "Don't tell me you're going to say something cliché like 'my gift for you is me.'" He smirked in between their moans.

"Yep. No returns or refunds possible." Naruto's hand was slithering inside the denim pants, a wicked smile curving when his lover bucked under his touch. "How you want me to do you for?"

Graphite eyes widened, heartbeats drumming loudly on his chest. Somewhere on the back of his mind there were talons whispering ominous promises, though this all feel so superfluous with how he was reacting from Naruto's close proximity, one hand already working on his clothed cock, sinful lips sucking his neck. Most of all, he could not believe Naruto was allowing him another step forward, his body surging with many possibilities.

"I'll do you." Sasuke growled, hands pressing hard each side of his waist. "Let's go to the shower."

He didn't need to say twice, as Naruto was hastily removing every article of his clothing, his reddened erection bobbing when he shoved his pants down. Sasuke followed suit, mouths reattached with an urgency as they hobbled towards the shower head, Naruto moaned when skilled hand encased around his cock, stroking the full length.

Warm water poured over their heads, as Naruto opened the lube cap.

"Eager, aren't you?" Sasuke teased, picking the lube and coating his fingers with this viscous liquid.

"Too damn eager." Naruto bit Sasuke's lower lip, his tongue seeking for another deep kiss. "Are you gonna fuck me or not?"

Blue and black eyes exchanged silent conversation, one finger breached in.

Sasuke cursed when he saw Naruto hissing in pain, slowing down. It was so tight─maybe it'd actually hurt them both if he'd be too careless.

Naruto took long deep breaths, staring in reassurance. "I'm fine Sasuke…keep going."

Still unsure, Sasuke peppered quick kisses on his mouth, sucking a sensitive spot on the tanned neck. His fingers brushed around the rim, circling around until one finger slid in to the first knuckle. He patiently stimulated that area till he was reassured Naruto was fully relaxed as that finger glided all the way in.

Sasuke watched every expression flickering on Naruto's eyes, but there was only one slight wince as the blond man nodded back. Soon another finger slipped through, widening the entrance, curling inside to stimulate the prostate. His lover let out a long whine, head thrown back as Sasuke sucked the Adam's apple, the prepping gaining a rhythm, their hard cocks pressed together with pre-cum beading on their heads.

Sasuke's erection pulsed fast, his instincts craving to shove that lithe body to the ground and fuck that ass mercilessly. But Naruto deserved more, so much more.

"Bed?" Sasuke uttered huskily, three fingers penetrating him.

Naruto held his face with both hands in a fierce grip, mouths melding once again till it drew moans from both young men. They stumbled back to the bedroom, Naruto pushed Sasuke to the bed as he picked the condom from his jeans, ripping the package apart.

Sasuke groaned from the fierce desire on Naruto's face, licking the pre-cum dry as he slid the condom over his hard cock. With his hand clutching the lube, he poured more to coat his erection, jaw slack as Naruto sauntered over him, both hands pressing on his stomach as he was moving down.

His eyes widened as Sasuke tried to sit up. "Naruto, let me─"

Tanned hands pushed him down, a wicked grin curling on his lips. "No, let me. It's your birthday after all."

Sasuke gazed thunderstruck as Naruto held the base of his cock with one hand, another hand placed on his stomach to steady himself. His body arched as he sank in that thick pole, inch by inch, that tantalizing intrusion making him almost dizzy with pleasurable pain.

He managed to look back towards Sasuke, enjoying the way the pale chest heaved, dark eyes burning in a molten desire as his waist still twitched a little, wanting more of that heated tightness.

Groaning, Naruto impaled himself even further, taking more of Sasuke's cock. He had forgotten this addicting invasion, his hole stretching so much, lighting his veins on fire. And knowing that it was Sasuke's undoing, Sasuke's fingers digging on his legs as he moaned loudly, made Naruto's heart tighten in inexplicable levels.

He kept pushing till he was completely seated in, blue eyes closing without his own volition, lost in those overwhelming sensations. Sasuke could barely contain this carnal torture, unbelievable tightness seizing his cock with a vice grip. Jaw slack with short breaths, he fondled the tanned ass cheeks, fingers brushing where his length was jutting out till it breached in Naruto's ass.

Licking his lips, Naruto drew few inches apart till he sunk in, again and again. Hips were rolling to thrust deeper inside, speed increasing with their growing pleasure. Unsatisfied with the slow pace, Naruto shifted his weight to his hands as his ass bounced in Sasuke's cock. Sasuke screamed in response, gazing the enraptured expression on Naruto's face as his erection smacked on his pale stomach each time of his thrusts.

Sasuke held the powerful legs, gasping. "Wait─Naruto─" He groaned as Naruto sank through his entire length, tightening around it.

"What─?" Naruto asked, breathless.

 Sasuke was still panting. "Turn around, I want to see my cock fucking your ass."

Despite shuddering in anticipation, the blond managed to roll his eyes. "Kinky bastard." He dislodged himself, pumping the erection few times as he obeyed Sasuke's command. With both Sasuke's hands clasping each side of his ass, Naruto threw a devious glance, raising himself a little, making sure Sasuke would be able to see his fuck hole.

Naruto assured had his legs spread wide as he penetrated into Sasuke's thick cock, slowly taking more just so Sasuke could witness the whole show. They moved to the edge of the bed, Sasuke's feet planted to the ground as they continued anew that sinful dance. This was the most erotic vision Sasuke had ever seen in his whole life, his long cock thrusting inside Naruto's round ass as his lover moaned and gasped, claiming his body. His balls were tightening as their speed progressed within each plunge, ecstasy teetering close to the edge.

─RING RING RING─His cellphone blasted out of nowhere, catching them off guard.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as if he was ready to fling that offending gadget over the room, but continued impaling himself with abandon. Praying that this insistent ringtone wouldn't last too long, Sasuke also ignored it for now.

For blissful seconds, the annoying noise from hell stopped.

─RING RING RING─Whoever the caller was, it insisted to make their lives miserable.

"What the hell?!" Naruto groaned, his eyes searching wherever that shitty cellphone was located just so he could turn it off.

Sasuke however, comprehended at last who might be calling him in such terrible timing, as he pushed Naruto off him. "Wait a minute, it won't take long."

Naruto widened his eyes. "What, are you ser─" His mouth was still slack when Sasuke shushed him, one finger placed on his mouth.

"Yeah, mom?" Sasuke said in French. "Oh, ok, thank you. I appreciate it. Why did I take so long to answer your call…?" Sasuke glanced towards the indignant blue eyes, mentally shaking his head. "I was sleeping, I have to wake really early on the next morning. No, it's really ok, I'm happy you called me to wish a happy birthday."

Much to Naruto's growing dismay, Sasuke continued to talk on the cellphone, despite their erection still standing proudly on their bed.

Naruto huffed, beginning to search for his boxers since it looked like this conversation wasn't going to end any soon. However, Sasuke clasped his wrist to draw his attention, as the brunet mouthed silently that it wouldn't take long.

And thus, in this odd turn of events, Naruto was sitting next to Sasuke with one eyebrow raised, sex temporarily on halt. God…this was boring him. His cock was even starting to wilt as the chat was dragging on.

Sasuke watched as the blond man was moving left and right, fumbling with his hands. Naruto was getting impatient which would make him fidget which shows he was getting bored, and in turn, is a premonition to surface his prankster self.

The blond man was poking and flickering his erection, squinting his eyes. Sasuke was mildly offended, his cock wasn't some play thing. His offense changed to apprehension when he could practically see the gears turning on Naruto's brain, as he widened a very wide impish grin.

Sasuke glared in a warning, though this quickly melted when Naruto started pumping his cock, leisurely at first but gradually speeding it up. All of this happening while the playful beam was showing on his face, gazing upon the struggling but elated onyx eyes.

"Naruto, don't you dare─" Sasuke whispered without a sound, even though his hips were thrusting with each pump. Naruto stood up much to his desperation, as he applied lube on his erection, approaching till their cocks touched, pressing them together with his hands. Sasuke was biting his lip, half-controlled breaths escaping as the friction of their cocks filled him with a delicious torture.

Knowing that his lover was on his last threads of sanity, Naruto released their cocks, grin still in place. Sasuke observed with increasing alarm as Naruto was moving downwards, until he was sitting on the floor with his face really close to his erection.

Sasuke hitched his breath from Naruto's playful eyes as he licked his lips, fingers slowly enveloping around the length. That devilish mouth encased around the sensitive head, tongue twirling around it with a loud slurp.

Naruto looked back those black eyes turning hazy with lust, before snapping them open. "Yes, yes I'm listening." He chuckled from Sasuke's apologetic mumble, his hand clutching the cellphone tightly.

The brunet furrowed his eyebrows, before dissolving into a hiss when Naruto flattened his tongue on the slit of his cock. He continued licking repeatedly over it, the tip of the tongue tracing contours around the juncture of the head with the shaft. With one hand cupping his balls, he kissed the pale inner thigh, gently biting and leaving a reddened mark.

At this point Sasuke was barely listening to any of his mother's advice, managing few grunts and hums in response to keep the conversation flowing. Naruto held the base of his cock with his hand, with his tongue tapping the sensitive areas, occasionally sucking it with his mouth. "Yes…of course. Some areas…can be dangerous." He muttered, with his voice keeping in a tight control even though his hips were already undulating with each suck.

Suddenly, darkened blue eyes flickered towards him, and Naruto unceremoniously swallowed him whole.

"Aaaah─!" Sasuke moaned loudly, throwing the cellphone to the pillow. His nose was still prickling the black pubic hair, lips tightly wrapping around the shaft as he slid back. Sasuke scrambled to pick his gadget back, grumbling. "Sorry. I think…I accidentally hit my toe on the table."

He could swear he felt Naruto's chuckles, vibrating through his length. Every time Sasuke let a moan or a gasp escape through, Naruto drank on this power of making this taciturn man coming undone. His mouth continued to stimulate his hard cock as hands were pumping through the length, fiery blue eyes fixed towards him.

"I'm─fine." Sasuke cursed under his breath when lips glided down through his shaft, while skilled hands palmed his balls. Fuck, Naruto didn't have any gag reflex─he bit his mouth to contain another moan when Naruto hollowed his cheeks around his dick.

His head was thundering from his loud heartbeats, all blood flooding to his cock with Naruto's head bobbing up and down with an increasing pace. His hips were thrusting inside that hot mouth, and yet Naruto wasn't stopping him, growling with both hands gripping his buttocks.

He really should put this to a halt before he do something incredibly embarrassing in front of his mother. "Mom, I think there's something on my toe, I should get going." Sasuke babbled, congratulating himself for the feat of formulating a complete sentence despite Naruto's efforts in making him a writhing mess. "Yes, bye."

He smashed the end button, staring as Naruto released his cock with a wet pop. Sasuke threw him on the bed, trying to pin a hard glare despite hearing Naruto's bubbly laughter.

"You crazy dumbass, that was my mom!"

"Oh! Oh, was it? Sorry, it's just that you were talking in French, I wouldn't know…" Naruto pulled out the most innocent, guileless impression he could muster, though Sasuke recognized that mischievous glint on his eyes to know better.

"I should punish you for this." He uttered in an unintended husky tone, his erection hardening the way blue eyes dilated with lust.

"So how are you going to punish me then?" He barely managed to finish his sentence when Sasuke flipped him around, cock plunging hard and making him shout in delight.

Sasuke continued this assault, hips slamming in a ruthless tempo. His hand pushed the blond head down, moving to grip the tanned wrists as he thrusted, deeper till he wanted to be completely melded with him. Skin to skin, heart to heart, wet slaps conjuring Naruto's erotic screams, body writhing to take more of his cock, more of himself in a spicy blend of passion and burgeoning feelings.

Head buzzing with euphoria, Sasuke was heaving hard, nuzzling his head on the tanned back.

"What, that's it?" Came the amused taunt.

With a warning growl, Sasuke turned Naruto around to face him. However, his blond moron yanked his dark hair almost painfully, dragging him to another deep kiss. They let their tongues glide freely inside their mouths, one leg was thrown over his shoulder. Naruto let an impatient noise, as Sasuke knew it was his cue to thrust again. With his arm still holding Naruto's leg, he pushed his knee forward, penetrating him fully, ready to let their bodies fly apart.

Naruto screamed hoarsely, Sasuke barely registered moist jets covering his stomach. With Naruto's body unresponsive, Sasuke dislodged himself off him, pumping his own erection, the visual stimuli of Naruto orgasming roaming in his mind. He gasped when another hand joined him. Holy fuck─thick cum gushed through his cock staring Naruto's ravishing face, hooded blue eyes carrying him over the edge.

For long seconds, there were only harsh breathing in the room. Naruto dropped his body next to Sasuke, their gazes still connected.

When Sasuke actually managed to get some of his voice back, he smirked. "So…you came…without─"

Naruto meekly slapped his arm. "Shut up, I can't help it. It's…been a while."

"…hn." Sasuke didn't know why but this new bout of information pleased him. He took out the condom and threw into the garbage bin, not questioning when Naruto placed his head on his shoulder, completely spent.

Unbeknownst to himself, his lips curved to a fond smile, as he kissed the top of the blond hair.

─.─.─.─.

AN: Please reviewwww…


	6. Itinerary 6

Blue eyes slowly blinked as Naruto stretched wide, yawning. He winced briefly from the weak light of his cellphone when he checked the time, scratching the back of his hair as he went to the bathroom.

Once all the basic necessities were done, all dressed up, he gazed in mild amusement at the lump slumbering on the bed. Naruto sat next to it, admiring Sasuke's face, the usual scowling expression now all smoothed out. His fingers wound up to caress the dark eyebrows, drawing lines from his forehead to one side of his cheek.

"Sasuke...wake up," Naruto murmured, hand still brushing Sasuke's face. Aside from a contented sigh, there was no signs of change, nuzzling a little his knuckles. Naruto shrugged.

Welp. He tried.

He stood up, taking few steps back in case Sasuke would try to pummel him for this, cleared his throat and shouted:

"GOOD MORNING SASUKE, WAKE UP!"

Sasuke jumped straight up with a startle, his hair a mess, black eyes narrowed with a glare that could melt ice.

"I tried to wake you in the normal way, but you just didn't listen to me," Naruto said, fighting very hard the urge to grin.

"You're lying through your fucking teeth dumbass, I'm always a light sleeper." Sasuke grumbled, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"Well, not to me you're not." Naruto responded, opening the blinds as the brunet was still looking a little bit dazed.

Sasuke noticed how Naruto was moving around, without any sign of weariness. "We...had sex like, three times yesterday didn't we?"

"Yeah...and?"

"How come...you're still..." Sasuke glowered.

"Oh! Yeah, I recover fast." Naruto beamed. "It's 7 o'clock, so get your ass out of the bed."

Sasuke grunted, huffing. He felt a weight sinking the bed as Naruto leaned closer, mouth tenderly biting his lower lip, nuzzling his nose.

"Well, we could have another round of sex to start this day..." Naruto whispered.

Sasuke blinked in interest, now fully awake.

"Or we could go to the sand dunes!" Naruto smiled wide.

"...sand dunes?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yeah, there's a sand dune nearby, it's really famous between Brazilians since an old soap opera used to record there. We gotta go pretty early though, so we can rent some buggy over there."

"Alright, I'm on aboard." Sasuke grumbled, picking up his clothes.

\--.--.--

Of all the Brazilian states both young men had ever visited, they were sure that Tocantins was by far, the least renowned of all. It lacked information overall and most of it talked about that state’s capital and Jalapão state park. Although it slowly garnered attention between Brazilian people, most places lacked general infrastructure but such particularity further fascinated them both. Reaching to a place where civilization had no place within this wild nature.

Of course, after an extensive research regarding Jalapão, they had no choice but to go with a travel agency, after they had read reports about GPS not working, scarce gas stations on the road and people waiting days to get their stuck car out of the mud. Naruto had chosen a rather rustic style of eco agency, as they end up sharing a camping tent in the middle of nowhere.

Every day they had to wake at dawn (obviously) while their means of transportation varied from day to day. They firstly reached to their camping site by jeep, but the second they entered their designated tent, Naruto threw Sasuke to their bed, straddling him by the waist.

“Let's see if the acoustic in here is good.” Naruto practically purred, unzipping the fly of his shorts.

From the amused looks he was receiving on the next day, Sasuke could definitely tell that the walls weren't thick enough to block out his screams.

Later on they were all canoeing; for the first time in Sasuke’s life. The river didn’t have any treacherous water and Naruto was slightly more experienced than him, so overall it was an interesting experience. Soon they arrived at the main event, their famed waterfalls and dunes.

One would expect anyone would get used to seeing such beautiful scenery after visiting so many parks, however, it never failed to catch Sasuke’s breath whenever they reached a new destination. A large pool formed below the waterfall, emerald green water beckoning him to dive in. They gladly spent most of the afternoon swimming there, after another day with blistering temperatures.

Night was followed with them admiring the sky full of stars. One of the people that was sharing this trip with them actually had some astronomical knowledge, as she explained the different constellations shown in South hemisphere in comparison to the North’s.

While he was still chatting with this person, Naruto saw on the corner of his eye Sasuke yawning, albeit discreetly. Figuring it’s about time they had to end the day, he excused himself with everybody, as both young men entered their tent.

Sasuke stretched his body, one hand pushing his head to one side and cracking his neck. His eyes focused on his luggage for a long moment, before grunting.

Naruto was also grabbing his pajamas, when he muttered. “What?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just that...Obviously this place doesn’t have any wi-fi, so I’ll probably settle reading a book after taking a bath. After a whole day full of activity, I’d never imagine that I’d sleep so early.”

“Awww...what? You’re bored?” Naruto grinned wide. He sat next to Sasuke, dropping one moist kiss, one hand gliding on the pale leg, resting on his thigh. “Let me un-bore you.” He whispered huskily. “We haven’t had any sex for two whole days.”

“That’s because we were too exhausted after walking all day, dumbass.” Sasuke responded in between kisses.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. “I could do it anyways.”

“Of course, because you’re an hyperactive moron who has endless stamina.”

Naruto’s smile maintained unaffected. “Whatever.” Fingers reached to touch the lean stomach as he hooked on the waistband of Sasuke’s pants. “Are we going to do it or not you old man?”

From the defiant look he received as a tongue promptly slithered in his mouth, Naruto figured his taunt worked quite well. He cradled Sasuke’s head with his hand, another one letting his thumb graze the pale thigh.

For a while they let themselves drown in these pleasurable sensations, indulging the increasingly familiar warm touch, the sensual glide and pull as their lips were interlocked, savoring this taste and scent.

Naruto felt Sasuke’s long hands on his waist sliding down to each side of his hips while both men bent down to their bed. Mouths still attached, these hands traveled to fondle Naruto’s ass cheeks, squeezing it with his tongue swallowing Naruto’s moan.

Naruto could feel some stirrings on his crotch area, heart skipping a beat looking at Sasuke’s alluring face. He chuckled though when the brunet gripped his arms, nose wrinkling from all the sweat sticking their bodies. He brushed the long dark fringes.

“Shower?”

Sasuke answered the question by stripping his t-shirt, grunting when it got stuck on his head. Naruto laughed, finishing his action as the rest of their clothes were being removed in a flurry of hastiness and yearn, hurrying to their tiny bathroom. It barely fit two adults, as cramped as it was, though such issue was barely significant when Sasuke was focused kissing Naruto’s smiling lips.

The warm water was running through their heated bodies, when Sasuke moved to suck Naruto’s neck, down to his collarbone. A sudden rush of pleasure made him moan when Sasuke’s hand was already gripping his growing erection. His mouth was all over Naruto’s body, licking his chest, teeth grazing his nipple, soft lips nibbling every part of his skin. Naruto’s hands clenched to bring Sasuke closer to him, lips matching, pressing and biting with a growing intensity and urgency.

Naruto shuddered with expectation from the noise of the cap opening, lube coating Sasuke’s fingers. His hips bucked when two fingers slithered in, thrusting as he widened the entrance. He didn’t need any of these, he was more than ready to be impaled by that thick cock, being engulfed by luscious heat.

Though Sasuke let his fingers linger inside him, even if he received Naruto’s impatient gasps back. He twirled around that tight channel, tips of his fingers grazing his prostate, trying to find a pleasurable spot that would make him weak on the knees.

“Sasuke--c’mon--” Naruto groaned, blue eyes fluttering close. Sasuke ripped the small package, rolling the condom over his dick as he applied more lube over it. Both hands picked Naruto’s legs as it enveloped around his hips, the upper body leaning on the wall. Holding his cock that aimed towards Naruto’s hole, he breached gradually, before impaling with one smooth move.

With a sharp inhale, Naruto threw his head to the back as he clenched his hands. He welcomed this sweet intrusion, the way Sasuke’s hips pulsated, hard cock throbbed inside him. The thin wall shook within each thrust and honestly it didn't look like it was going to hold out for very long. One sharp shove actually made the entire tent wobble a little, so Naruto didn't contain his snicker.

Sasuke stopped, deadpan eyes staring straight towards him.

“No, I'm just thinkin’” Naruto grinned. “these walls are definitely not sturdy, can you imagine what would happen if this tent collapse on us right now?”

Sasuke sighed, surveying the situation. He dislodged himself off the blond man, reaching for another kiss that stole his breath.

“Turn around.” Sasuke growled close to the earlobe, getting more aroused Naruto’s sly smirk widening in response. He obeyed Sasuke at once, placing his hands on the wall, casting one glance backwards.

Naruto let out a long breath when fingers skimmed through his buttocks, before grasping it firmly. Sasuke continued to make his palms slide that supple flesh, kneading and squeezing it while his mouth was latched on the tanned collarbone, listening to Naruto’s hisses of pleasure. His erection soon lunged all the way in, gasping from that hot tightness.

Naruto braced himself when Sasuke would pick up the pace, but Sasuke chose to pull out bit to bit, and he could literally feel every inch of that long rod slipping out of him. The bulbous head of Sasuke’s cock pressed on his entrance, penetrating in this same excruciating lethargic movement, widening and filling him.

“Sasuke!” Naruto protested, because that hard cock penetrating him was too painfully slow, too achingly addicting.

“Hn.” Sasuke nuzzled the tanned back, kissing on it. “I thought you called me an old man, anyways?”

“You fuckin--” Naruto groaned, his hips jerking backwards.

Both Sasuke’s hands held each side of his body, taking all the time to have his dick embedded inside that tight heat, eyes devouring the way that delicious ass was accommodating his length. His cock glided outwards, then drove in forward, moaning how it was swallowing him whole, spurred by Naruto’s lustful gasps, his throaty voice escalating in volume within each thrust.

However, Sasuke resumed that same rhythm, languorously savoring his lover’s moans and broken words, dripping in a starving desire. And yet he controlled his impulses, his hips rolling in different angles, paying close attention to every cadence of Naruto’s voice, every croak in bliss. He was tuning in exquisite detail, wanting to make sure he’d bring Naruto to the highest enraptured peak.

Naruto choked out his name, hands curling into a tight fist. His lips approached first, dropping on the long back as he moved to suck the tanned neck, kissing his cheek in a silent request. Naruto turned his face to gaze upon him, vivid blue eyes darkening in avid lust. As mouths locked in a wet wrap, his hips thrust sharply in.

Sasuke was impaling Naruto deeper and harder as they were still exchanging open mouthed kisses, hands linked as another wrapped around Naruto’s rigid erection. His own body was searing, staring how Naruto’s eyes were becoming glazed, sweat and water slickening their bodies as Sasuke continued to slam that clenching hole.

Naruto screamed, groaned, gasped in short pants. He had never had experienced like that ever before, no one had ever dedicated so much to pleasure his body, studied so minutely his whole self. All past encounters were just a blur of instincts manifesting mechanically, and now, they couldn't hold a candle with how Sasuke was engulfing him in this fervid fire.

Turgid balls was slapping his ass in each thrust, Sasuke’s cock kept ramming his pleasure spot. He was still pounding unrelentlessly, hand started pumping his erection as Naruto was becoming a writhing mess.

This ecstasy was rolling in waves, growing within each thrust and consuming him all. Now Naruto only wanted Sasuke. Sasuke was filling his entire mind with white pleasure, their connection overwhelming his body, this passion latching his heart.

It was almost making him insane.

Sasuke came with a low groan, teeth latching on Naruto’s shoulder, thrusting roughly. That acute pain also drove Naruto to completion, warm creamy juices shooting out in this powerful orgasm.

They took long minutes heaving heavily, trying to recover their breaths. The water from the shower head was now cooling their skin, as Naruto leaned on the wall, Sasuke’s body was draping all over him.

Naruto shrugged one shoulder in an attempt to move, and with a tired groan, Sasuke stepped backwards, still trying to grasp for more air. Smiling warmly, Naruto’s mouth reached to touch Sasuke's, tongue gliding on the lower lip. Aside a fluttering of eyes, he got a rather lethargic response when Sasuke simply dropped his face, pale forehead resting on his shoulder as he removed the condom out of his flaccid dick.

Naruto snorted, picking the soap bar and lathering their bodies. He brushed Sasuke's neck now littered with hickies, licking his lips when he slid through the pink nipples, the alabaster colored chest still red from exertion. Naruto’s cock twitched ready for round two, but considering how Sasuke's nether regions was still sensitive to touch and he was half comatose, Naruto figured it'd be better to let this opportunity pass for now.

The blond man dutifully cleaned them both, even drying Sasuke's body with a towel. When he exited the bathroom to hold a clean pair of boxers, he returned with a quizzical eyebrow when graphite eyes were glaring holes towards the blow dryer.

“What's the matter?” Naruto asked, noting how Sasuke looked a little embarrassed, narrowing his eyes even further.

“I want to dry my hair, but my arms…” Sasuke grunted, rubbing his shoulders and rotating his biceps.

"Age is catching up on you?" Naruto snickered, unaffacted with the glower he received in return. He slid the toilet lid down, patting on it. "C'mon, get over here so I can dry it for you."

Still looking a little miffed, Sasuke obeyed with a huff, sitting obediently. He felt at once a blast of hot wind on his head, followed with the usual noise of the blow dryer. Naruto's fingers combed through the strands of black hair as Sasuke sighed contentedly, hands raising to settle on his hips.

Naruto attempted to ignore the sharp jab in his heart, realizing how potentially dangerous was this gentle domesticity lingering in between. Sasuke shuffled to drop his face on Naruto’s chest, nuzzling over it.

Naruto pointed out amusedly. "Don't you dare sleep on me bastard, I'm too lazy to carry your dead weight to our bed."

He only heard a muffled groan back, as he rolled his eyes, grinning.

Once he felt the dark strands were dry enough, Naruto messed Sasuke’s head, muttering. “There. Now you're beautiful. Let's go to sleep. ”

“Because we'll have to wake up at 7 in the morning?”

“6 actually.” Naruto chirped out.

Sasuke only groaned.

But despite all his complaints and snappish grumbles as Naruto dragged him along to eat breakfast, Sasuke still followed the entire schedule, swimming in an impressive waterfall, water cascading in powerful roars from all edges.

As they were returning to Tocantins’ capital for another flight, their energies spent after another thrilling adventure checking out, Naruto commented. “You know, I'm really excited with our next destination but it's such a shame we're going so soon. There's actually another place I wanted to go in Tocantins.”

“Which is?” Sasuke enquired as he was unloading his luggage from the bus.

“There's an island called Bananal which is known for their exotic fish, and what really caught my attention is the fact that several groups of aboriginals people live there, maintaining their culture and barely getting mixed with our civilization. Imagine living few days with them, it gotta be pretty fascinating right.”

Sasuke listened intently, his interest piqued. “We can think of something to postpone the next trip for few days.”

Naruto laughed. “It's a nice thought but I'm afraid that going to that island is going to drill a hole in my pocket, so let's not. For now.”

Sasuke nodded in agreement. “It's a shame though.”

“Yeah well…” He shrugged. “We can always plan for the next time right!” A wide beam brightened, as Naruto slugged his backpack on his shoulders.

However, a noticeable tighten of lips marred Sasuke’s face, his body rigid and hand curled into a fist. He slowly opened his mouth, words uttered in a hiss. “And are you really--” Graphite eyes widened in shock, a painful noise buzzing his brain once he realized the weight of his feelings.

Naruto gazed back in befuddlement, waiting for him to finish his sentence. However, Sasuke instead set his slacked jaw straight, the intense expression hiding behind a mask of nonchalance until he grumbled. “If you say so.”

“Hey, you make it sound like that it’s something that it’s not gonna happen. Here’s something you need to know about me.” Naruto placed a hand over his chest, puffing it proudly. “I always keep with my promises.”

“Isn’t this such a quaint thought.” Sasuke curled a lopsided smirk.

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Is a little of optimism in your life just too much for you? Like a dab of color in this cynic gray mind of yours.”

“I’m pretty comfortable with my brand of cynicism. It makes me prepared for any kind of unpleasantness I may stumble in the future.” Sasuke retorted, as they went to check-in their luggage.

Naruto followed behind, snorting. “Whatever. This is why you’re always going to be a grouchy old man.”

“Excuse me, because I fail to understand this sudden designation--”

Soon they returned to their usual bickering throughout the flight trip, whatever previous conversation forgotten.

\--.--.--

Sasuke let out a tired huff, every aching limb protesting, on the verge of complete collapse. He settled to sit on a nearby chair, watching as Naruto arranged everything else; talking to the locals.

After almost a whole week barely touching any piece of technology, he figured he’d browse his smartphone for a minute to pass the time. To his bewilderment, he saw his coworker’s cellphone number listed as missed calls. Shrugging inwardly, he figured he could still return the call despite the time zone differences, since it’s probably late afternoon on France.

Pressing the call button, Sasuke waited few seconds before his coworker picked up the telephone. “Hey Sasuke! Whoa, it’s been so long! Finally decided to show up?”

Sasuke snorted. “Hello Suigetsu.”

“I’ve been trying to contact you for over 3 days! I sent you messages, called you but nothing. You got lost deep in some forest or some shit like that?”

“Well...I went to a place so remote that there was no way in contacting with anyone outside, unless there’s some emergency.” His eyes strayed to watch from afar Naruto talking to a local, shouting in astonishment when he received a banana and a monkey climbed to grab that fruit. “So what’s the matter? You need help to find some file or do I have to explain about one of our clients?”

The conversation suddenly fell silent, a subtle shuffling on the other end of the receiver. Suigetsu sighed loudly. “So...about that. I don’t have good news for you.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion from his colleague tone of voice. “About what?”

“...errr...well. I’m afraid you’re not going to work with us anymore.”

“What?!” Sasuke growled, fingers clutching his cellphone.

“You’ve been taking too long in this vacation so--”

“It was a whole fucking month! We agreed on this! I’m still protected by labor laws to deserve this vacation!”

“Well, but they complained that it was too abrupt. You didn’t give a month of prior notice so--”

“They still agreed to this.” Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth.

Sasuke heard another tired huff, his blood boiling in cold rage. Suigetsu said. “I know, but you know about how cheap are the company’s owners. They didn’t bother to find a temp to fill you in while you’re in vacation so we had double the work ‘cuz of this.”

“Hn, this does sound like something they would do.”

“Right? So...people started complaining and asking for help, so our boss finally relented and hired a guy. But this new guy realized that this was a good opportunity, and convinced the higher-ups to ditch you and hire him. And obviously he worked hard on this, kissing up their asses, being really dedicated and everything...so they thought that it’s worth it, even if you end up suing them for this.”

Sasuke listened to the apologetic voice, frowning.

“Sorry about this.”

“Don’t worry, thanks for informing me.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want you caught by surprise when you’re back to France.” Suigetsu replied. “By the way, you’re still traveling in Brazil?”

“Yes.”

Suigetsu hummed in mild interest. “And where exactly are you right now?”

"Amazon." Sasuke answered nonchalantly.

This time there was a stunned pause as his friend gawked. "…Amazon? As in, Amazon forest?"

"Yes, pretty much."

Suigetsu low whistled. "Whoooooooa Sasuke, if your absence didn't fuck up all of our asses I'd be so jealous of you now."

Sasuke rolled his eyes with a quirk of lips upward, focusing once again Naruto cooing over the small monkey perched on his arm, as he gave another piece of banana and the animal’s tiny hand seized it, eating with gusto. Azure eyes and onyx ones encountered in their gazes, Naruto lifting a smile, waving his hand to beckon him.

“You know, once you’re back to France and all this mess is over, we gotta go to a bar, all of our friends grab some beer while you tell us all the cool stuff in Brazil. Unless you end up settling down with some hot Brazilian dude, of course.”

“Hn. I should get going then, thanks again for telling me the news.” Sasuke muttered while sauntering towards Naruto.

“Sure! See you later!”  Suigetsu hung up.

Sasuke placed his cellphone in his pocket, Naruto’s expression brightening in excitement at his proximity until he muted with a quizzical look. “Did something happen to you?”

Sasuke picked the banana out of Naruto’s hand and grumbled. “What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know you look…” There was an awkward shrug of shoulders. “You look like you’re bothered about something, I guess.”

Sasuke peered back in quiet astonishment. Figuring that there was no point in delaying the news, he said. “I just got fired.”

“WHAT?!” Naruto’s enraged shout definitely surpassed his own. “Why?! You told me that you and the company you work for had agreed on this vacation!”

“Well, I guess they no longer care with whatever agreements they had with their employee.” Sasuke snorted, his hand still raised waiting for any monkey to arrive, though considering Naruto’s outburst, they probably fled from there.

“That’s really sleazy from their part.”

“Well, I suppose that I didn’t leave on a high note when I kind of demanded having this vacation.”

“What, really?” Naruto blinked wide. He noticed a monkey peeking from afar and poked Sasuke.

With a curt nod, he turned his offered hand closer to that monkey. “When I decided to go to Brazil, I kind of threatened how the company didn’t give me full vacation for years as it was supposed to do to abide the law. Then when they begrudgingly agreed to give me the vacation, they didn’t expect that I’d travel on the next day too.”

Naruto scratched the back of his head, muttering. “That’s still really unfortunate news.” Once realization finally sank in his mind, his mouth opened gradually, almost fearful. “So...does that mean you want to take a break from this trip?”

Sasuke snorted. “Obviously not.”

Naruto let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Are you sure? Though you look pretty calm so far.”

“I guess. Getting fired did take me off guard, and well...it’s a unpleasant realization but I kind of expected this. It’s not going to ruin this trip.” When Naruto only quirked an eyebrow back, Sasuke added. “The company is not exactly kind towards their workers. But the salary was pretty high.”

“I guess...so what you gonna do from now on?”

“Nothing changed for now. But I guess I want to check my bank account so I can roughly estimate my budget.” Sasuke grumbled. “First thing we’re going to do once we reach the hotel.”

“Yeah sure, that’s really understandable.” Naruto nodded. “Sasuke, hey--!”

The little monkey took advantage that both men were distracted to grab the banana as it hopped far away from them.

Sasuke glowered his empty hand. “I wanted to take a photo.”

Naruto snickered. “We can try again tomorrow.”

\--.--.--.--

The climate in Amazon forest was the worst. Humid and terribly hot, sweat sticking on his body while there was no breeze to soothe the night. Sasuke blinked awake annoyed, unable to keep a long sleep with such a high temperature.

He stretched his arm, only to meet an empty space. His eyes searched around, noticing golden hair gleaming in the moonlight. Seeing that familiar figure sitting close to him, that constant presence that was growing accustomed to see everyday, conjured an inexplicable twinge in his heart, as Sasuke stood up, closing in to kiss Naruto’s nape.

“Hey, you’re awake.” Naruto gave him a peck on his lips, moving aside to give him space to sit next to him.

“Any reason why you’re sitting in the balcony, fully naked for the whole world to see?” Sasuke smirked.

“I dunno, probably to channel my inner Amazon spirit or something like that.” Naruto groaned. “Now I get why the aborigines living here are all naked! It’s too fucking hot!”

Sasuke snorted, laying down to feel the cool tiles of wood.

After a few minutes listening to the night sounds of the forest, chirping crickets and trees swaying back and forth, Naruto whispered. “Say...Sasuke.” He bit his lower lip. “You really don’t mind the fact that you just got fired?”

“No, not really.”

“You’re not hiding anything from me right? I mean, you have all the rights to be upset, so I want you to know that just because we paid for this trip doesn’t mean we can delay few days for you to rest a little.”

“Naruto.” Sasuke called his name in assurance. “I’m serious, this doesn’t bother me that much. I’m actually glad, thinking about it.”

“...glad?”

“This is the first time I got fired, usually it’s the other way round. I’d receive a better offer and go to another company. Then everything went back as the usual, same challenges, same type of clients, similar troubles. You work to rest on weekends, weekends pass by so quickly then you return to work, an endless cycle. At least this time when they put me out of the picture, I kind of feel free from these binds.”

“Well...it’s more like you got stuck in the usual pattern, some set of habits that gives you a sense of security.”

Sasuke dainty rested his linked hands on his stomach, mumbling. “That may be right, but at one point of the story, this kind of habit started to chain me to the ground. Besides, I always questioned myself the need to work this much? For what sake?”

“...money? Stability? Because you enjoy your work?” Naruto muttered back, rubbing the back of his head.

“I mean...those are valid reasons. But to what extent?” Onyx eyes shut to absorb the hearth of multiple living beings, nature’s energy channeling onto him. “You work yourself to the bone, every day, over and over just to get some miserable pennies. Then, as a way to reward yourself you go to a vacation, some beach or a nice cottage in the countryside. Recycle and repeat.”

“Well, isn’t what you’ve been doing right now?”

“I guess. Maybe I’m doing nothing different from anyone else in this journey. But I guess I’m trying to flee from this cycle, questioning the need of it. I mean...follow me on this. You’re working to accumulate capital and material beings.”

Naruto nodded. “Right.”

“Why do I have to seek to get more than necessary for survival when everything will be gone when I die? It just feels stupid that everyone is doing the same thing right?”

“Maybe because everyone needs a certain level of comfort, the basic needs for everyday life. And well, lots of them earn money so they can pass on to their children.”

“Another good point, but that it’s if I want to have children in the future, which it’s not really part of my plans.” Sasuke shrugged. “So it all comes down to save money for...what? For a comfortable end of my life? So I’ll go to a nice asylum and there’ll be a nice nurse to change my diapers? And probably would be able to pay for a coffin, which by the way, it’s another rather unnecessary thing.”

“Those are all valid points, but you said yourself that you’re in a good position so that you can raise all those questions about life. Think about elderly people nowadays who can’t have enough money to bring food to their plate, living in some miserable place that the government would throw them all together in terrible conditions. Or even people with our same age who can’t find jobs, or worse, have gotten into a trap that forces them to work in terrible condition but they are all thankful that they have a job, at least.”

Sasuke smirked. “Yes, maybe I’m just a pretentious rich son of a bitch who is only complaining about first-world problems.”

“I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.” Naruto shook his head. “I think all this kinds of questions are all lingering in our minds, some actually want to raise it and debate it, but others buried when they had too much on their plates. Anyways...did you find it?”

Black eyebrows furrowed bewildered. “Find what?”

“The solution to get away from the repeated cycle you used to suffer.”

Sasuke snorted, raising himself to a seated position as he placed his jaw on the palm of his hand. “I didn’t find anything at all. Even though I kept complaining, some stability is always nice and a set of habits is a constant ground for you to feel safe. Those are all that made possible to think about life and question your own existence. But I also enjoyed this trip so far, getting out of the comfort zone. Some people had never traveled beyond their country, hell, some even didn’t beyond their own state and yet had fulfilling lives. But I guess I want to see what this world is capable to give me more in this lifetime.”

“That could be a nice intro for your biography you’ll write in a couple of years.” Naruto grinned.

“Then for some reason the library will put it in the section of self help, so people can etch on my tombstone the amount of abysmal disappointment I’ll feel once this happens.” Sasuke sighed, staring his cellphone. “We should get back to sleep soon, we got canoeing tomorrow right?”

“Tree hiking actually. I heard we’re going to eat some ants!” Naruto beamed.

“Not exactly opposing, I heard they are delicious actually.”

“Yeah well, the hotel owner actually said that there’s a type of huge ant, where we have to bite their succulent heads and--”

“Spare me from all the gory details please.”

They went back to bed, sighing relieved since the surface had cooled down once again.

“Naruto.”

A non-committed grunt answered him.

“Tomorrow after all the activities I want to arrive earlier so I can make a full assessment with all the money I have in my bank account with how much I’ll roughly spend on the next few months. You mind?”

“Sure, I’ll help you out if you want.” Naruto grumbled, head a little woozy from sleepiness. This request is probably nothing out of ordinary anyways.

\--.--.--

Though Sasuke still managed to enjoy thoroughly tree climbing, taking his time to photograph some birds and admire the scenery, Naruto could recognize he wasn’t fully engrossed, his mind scattered elsewhere.

Dinner was an unexpected surprise as everything shown on their plates were unlike anything else they had seen their entire lives. Assorted colorful fruits, different kind of species of fishes, meat from varied animals, they made sure to try out every kind of flavor, marvelling all different tastes and textures, mouth-watering dishes though some were just too weird for the first bite.

Once their bellies were completely full, both young men contentedly went to their room, as Sasuke held some papers with pen, as well as his iPad. Naruto decided to relax at the balcony, letting Sasuke with his own devices as the brunet scribbled his financial report, calculating all potential expenses.

After long minutes of frustrated grunts, the noise of graphite sliding on paper and finger tapping, Naruto heard Sasuke’s loud sigh, as he dropped the pencil.

“Good news? Bad news?” Naruto approached, sitting on the chair in front of him.

“You have no idea how annoying it can get when you have this many variables. The price of plane tickets can change so much depending on the day not to mention that considering the current state of Europe, I might have to--” Sasuke noticed how blue eyes squinted in confusion, so he added. “One month. I can probably continue this trip for one month with a rather comfortable budget, like being able to pay for plane tickets instead of going by bus and all.”

“Well, you’re in a much better situation than I do! After this trip to the Amazon, I probably won’t be able to stay like this for too long, I’ll have to find a part-time job to pay for my expenses.” Naruto laughed.

“Hn. Then I guess first thing I have to do is buy tickets back to France.”

He could feel his body getting numb from this admission, a cold sweat sliding down his spine. “Well, there’s another option for you.” Naruto attempted to play it cool, keeping his anxiety at bay. “You could go with me to explore Argentina next!”

Sasuke snorted.

“Hey, it’s not a bad idea! You can rent your apartment, or post it on Airbnb, freelance here and there to get more money on the way. Buying any plane tickets within the period of two months are always much more expensive than usual.”

“It is quite tempting, but I already considered this fact in my plans. Plus, I do want to travel more in the future, but that also mean that I have to clean up my apartment to rent it to Airbnb. And I want to see my family and all too.” Sasuke replied.

“Well, if you say so. I’m not stopping you.” Naruto shrugged. “You better grab your credit card, passport number and everything. Do you type fast?”

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow from the unusual question but answered nevertheless. “I’m a pretty fast typer, why?”

“Ok, because I know some websites that can give you some sweet deals but usually there’s a lot of competition. So you better be fast on this thing.” Naruto picked up his laptop from his backpack, turning it on.

“You really think that there’ll be some tickets to Europe for a nice price, you’re definitely going to be an over-optimistic vibe.” Sasuke smirked.

“Yeah yeah yeah whatever. Any airport in France will do?” Naruto began typing the website.

“Preferably in Paris.”

“Alright, direct or one to two transfer?”

“Obviously direct because I don’t want to spend the whole day in airports.” Sasuke sniffed imperiously.

Naruto rolled his eyes, shaking his head. All of a sudden, he shouted. “WHOA! There’s a 10 minute deal right now! Tickets to France, direct, for 450 euros!”

“No way, I bought tickets to Brazil and spent close to 800 euros.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

“I’m serious, I’m going to click on the airplane company, you already have an account on Delta Airlines right?”

Sasuke grunted, as Naruto stepped aside and the brunet began typing in rapid speed. His eyebrows shot to the hairline when the price was actually correct. “There are only trips available within this week though.”

“Try next month.”

Sasuke clicked the aforementioned date, then muttered. “No, next month they would return to the usual price.”

“Try finding the date that it’s still few weeks ahead but it’s within this deal.” Naruto said.

Sasuke obeyed, but the loading screen was taking too long for their tastes, until it suddenly crashed. “I have to go to the starting screen all over again?”

“Yep.”

Glowering, Sasuke went back redoing the same steps once again, writing the departing place to city of arrival, clicking on one day before the whole month, but it showed the same high prices. He retracted one more day but the website crashed a second time.

“Do it again, think about all the money you’re going to save.” Naruto said, even though Sasuke was drilling holes with the force of his glare.

The third time he managed to type everything in upper speed, then smashed on a random day that he figured it’d be distant enough from today’s date. Thankfully, the loading screen showed that he actually accepted the acquisition, asking for the usual information to end the deal.

“C’mon, quick! Write your damn number and all that shit!” Naruto growled, holding his passport.

“Why does it keep crashing all the time?”

“There are a lot of people wanting to buy the tickets too, that’s why you have to be pretty fast. Ok, your passport is J-O-zero-zero-nine-five-three-three-M-N. Got it?”

Sasuke nodded, picking up his credit card and giving to Naruto. “Spell the numbers for me, it’s quicker.”

Naruto recited as asked, and once they were all done, Sasuke clicked to proceed to check-out until it crashed. Again.

“Don’t give up Sasuke, third time's the charm. Third time.”

“It’s actually the forth time--” Sasuke pointed out.

“Just do it, will you?”

Wrinkling his nose, Sasuke went through all the procedures one more time, painstakingly waiting and abhorring the loading screen, leaving them on the edge of the seats. They filled all the blanks, faster than ever, until Sasuke clicked the button with considerable force to end the purchase.

They watched with increasing trepidation that annoying loading circle rolling over and over, neverending. It finally blinked away, to reveal the ticking green box showing that their acquisition has been accepted.

Sasuke threw his head to the back with a loud huff, Naruto whooped in celebration. “See? You did it!”

“This is probably the most stressful thing I have ever done in weeks.” Sasuke grouched.

“Stop being such a moody bastard and go check the e-mail to confirm everything.”

Sasuke grabbed his iPad, checking his e-mail while Naruto was next to him.

“Hah! There, everything is alright. Well, all check correctly, name, passport, address, departure, destiny, date....” Naruto triumphant smile withered down, as he checked the info again. "Oh…"

Sasuke stared the screen with him, realization running cold like a bucket of water splashing on his body.

"Oh…! I guess your trip will be ending in 20 days huh!" Naruto uttered in a voice with a higher pitch than the usual, his wide smile strained.

Sasuke cringed from such vulnerable tone, guilt washing ashore and leaving him almost disoriented. “Well, let’s see if there’s still tickets available.”

Naruto quirked an eyebrow back.

“You said you haven’t seen your parents for years right? Maybe this deal is an opportunity for you to visit them.” Sasuke mumbled nervously, his aloofness now cast aside.

Naruto hummed, nodding back. “Sure, that sounds like a good idea, let’s try it.”

“Great.” Sasuke cleared his throat, trying to regain his ground. “You can visit me once you’re back to Europe too, I wouldn’t mind.”

Naruto chuckled. “Hey, who am I to deny such a grand offer?”

The mood that was lightened up several seconds ago, had crashed once the website informed that the deal’s offer was over. They stared the screen with heavy hearts, unable to process everything that happened that night.

Out of nowhere, Naruto stood up, stretching his arms. “Well, it can’t be helped.” He said with a cheerful tone. “A good deal like that doesn’t happen all the time.”

Sasuke was still gazing his iPad, almost as if he was waiting for some another flash deal or anything close to that.

Naruto glanced the graphite eyes glaring with increasing frustration. He placed his hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, kissing on the top of his head. “Sasuke, it’s ok, I can always buy another ticket next time.”

Sasuke rubbed his temples, acquiescing at last. “That’s it...I guess.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a good thing you’ve gotten everything organized for the next months.”

Sasuke nodded his head slowly, crossing his arms. “Agreed.” He inhaled and exhaled tiredly. “I better go off to sleep, all the computing and programming my budget drained my energy. I’m going to take a bath.”

Naruto shrugged one shoulder, beaming. “Sure!”

Sasuke paused for a second, eyes scrutinizing his grin. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, not at all. Don’t worry about it. We gotta wake up early too.” Naruto threw Sasuke’s sweatpants on his direction, also grabbing his boxers as they joined another bath.

Once refreshed enough, they went to bed dutifully, Sasuke dozing off almost in an instant.

Under the cloak of moonlight, Naruto indulged himself to savor Sasuke’s presence, his finger brushing the pale cheek down to his chin. He inhaled sharply, taking in Sasuke’s sensual cologne and his unique scent.

Intertwining their fingers, he then closed his eyes.

\--.--.--

Is it possible to loathe so much the dawn of another day?

He kicked the blankets off, rubbing his face with his hands as he went on with the usual chores. He took his time for as long as possible so he wouldn’t disturb that peaceful slumber, choosing a fresh set of clothes as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Countless minutes passed as his eyes were fixed on that sleeping face, petrified that this vision would vanish in thin air. To his dismay, the ticking clock continued moving merciless, so he stood up walking to the window, clenching tightly the fabric in front of him.

Cursing how his palm was gathering cold sweat, he flexed few times, glancing one more time backwards, as he bit his lower lip, tensed his shoulders, and widened his usual grin.

“Morning lazybones!” Naruto exclaimed cheerfully, opening the blinds. His smile didn’t falter, gazing fondly the messy hair, half-lidded eyes as Sasuke was still half awake, yawning discreetly. “C’mon, I want to see more cute animals.”

Sasuke was still ruminating on his usual grouchy mood while he went the bathroom without casting a single glance back. It was within this small terms of second that the grin faded, longing blue eyes staring his back.

_19 days left…_

\--.--.--

AN: *puts the gif of Bart Simpson talking “You can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half.”*

Are y’all ready for ANGST???


	7. Itinerary 7

“Enough of touring for today.”

Naruto turned around, bewildered by the sudden announcement.

Sasuke had his eyes furrowed, muttering. “I want to wash my damn clothes.”

“Oh yeah sure, let’s find a washing machine in the middle of this jungle.” Naruto rolled his eyes, while they were following the tourist guide. 

“I meant, after this is done. Go to Manaus, find a laundromat.” He picked up his cellphone. “There’s one that it’s open till 7:30 pm.” He said while staring the screen.

“Can’t you wait a little? We’ll tour to this city in a few days, plus, we already washed all clothes 5 days ago.”

“5 days ago. We went to tropical cities with high and humid temperatures, so all my clothes reeks of sweat and dirt.” Sasuke flared his nose in distaste.

“Fine, we’ll do whatever you want, clean freak.” Naruto shook his head, grinning.

“I’m not a clean freak, I just have a healthy amount of sanitary standards.” Sasuke declared, raising his chin all prim and proper.

Naruto snorted. “Sure, you anal bastard.”

Sasuke appeared to ignore that teasing quip, speaking in an aloof tone with a hint of a smirk. “Funny how you used that word, when I was the one that put my cock in your--”

“OKAY, YOU GOT YOUR POINT.”

\--.--.--

His vision flashed open with a startle, loud heartbeats throbbing in his ears. He swallowed thickly, rubbing his eyelids as he moved closer to Sasuke's warm body. 

He let out a low curse once he stared the bright screen of his cellphone. Sighing heavily, eyes fixed upon Sasuke's serene face, taking every detail to his memory, from smoothness of his skin, thin lips to his long eyelashes. 

16 days… he didn't want to be pushed in this negativity, even if time was looming close. Naruto managed to force a grin to his face, cheerful voice to wake Sasuke up as they readied themselves for another day. They decided to extend their visit in Amazon, wandering outside the frenetic touristic tours as they went by themselves with some locals. 

It’s easy to get lost staring at the wide Amazon river, colorful parrots flying by, admiring handcrafts made by locals. Gazing, impressed, what was probably the biggest leaves they had ever seen in their lives, floating on the river with its beautiful water lilies. He could manage to forget for few seconds that there’s only 14 days left, trying to keep his usual upbeat attitude, even if his smiles were faltering, widening of lips were getting strained.

Despite all, Naruto couldn’t dare making any move. Why disrupt when this situation has been very pleasant so far? Moving meaning that they’d have to dig farther, that would also mean possible disagreements and altercations and as a result, ruining the mood between him and Sasuke. And this trip was perfect, so far. There was no point tainting it, he assured himself over and over whenever another night would close the day. 

Even if a coldness would claw desperately his insides as the clock signalized that 13 days were left.

Perhaps it was due to this impending end that made Naruto indulge himself around Sasuke, with some stolen kisses while they were on a boat, wrapping his arms around Sasuke’s body as he let his chin rest on the shoulder. Sasuke might not actively reciprocate most times, but the smallest intimate reactions, from the way his body relaxed under his touch or his eyelashes would flutter close when they kissed, reassured Naruto that his affections were wholeheartedly accepted. However, on the other hand, this only managed to his heart grow fonder towards this…moody, charmingly sarcastic and fascinating bastard. 

Naruto sighed. Okay… He had it bad. He really needed to reign this in. 

Blue eyes were narrowing, he focused on writing, posting on instagram and studying the overall reaction. He managed to stray his mind filling the report to his sponsors, adding graphs and comparison charts in the document.

“Naruto.” Sasuke’s voice instantly caught his attention.

“Hm?” Naruto turned around only to quirk an eyebrow when he saw the raised arm holding the gadget. He chuckled. “Seriously?”

Sasuke grunted back, throwing the blowdryer in his direction.

Naruto caught it, waving in a mock exasperation. “Can’t you dry your hair on your own?”

“I figured you should take some responsibility after what you’ve done to me.” Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Naruto chortled. “We just had sex, I didn’t steal your kidneys.” At meeting with the insistent gaze of eyes, he rolled his eyes, lips still smiling. He sat on the edge of the bed, patting on it. “Fine then, come here and sit on the floor.”

Naruto searched for the closest electric socket, plugging it in as he already felt Sasuke sitting close to his legs. He turned it on with the usual loud noise blasting through, noticing Sasuke’s shoulders sagging on the edge of the bed as he hummed contentedly. 

The next few minutes were spent with Naruto amused by Sasuke's purrs of approval whenever his fingers would comb the black hair locks. Nevertheless, it was sort of his duty as the in-house prankster to tease Sasuke so Naruto called “Hey bastard.”

“Hn?” Sasuke grunted in disapproval when Naruto paused, one lazy eye glaring, coaxing him to continue. 

Naruto rolled his eyes, though he resumed drying Sasuke’s hair. “I'm pretty sure that when I agreed going on a trip with you, I didn’t agree having to pamper a brat like you.” He said with a lopsided grin. 

“Hn.”

“Hey, I'm serious, stop being such a baby.” Naruto chastised, though his hands woven to mess with Sasuke’s head. “Didn’t you had enough coddling back when you’re a kid?”

“Not really.” Sasuke responded nonchalantly. 

Naruto knitted his eyebrows, his hand gently pushed the pale temple down to make Sasuke's eyes gaze upon him. “Really?” 

Sasuke shrugged. “Yes. I had the usual strict Japanese education coming from my parents so they weren't much into coddling, since they thought that this way would spoil the kid and make him weak.”

“That sounds...pretty bad.”

“Not really. It's far from perfect for sure, but there are some good points. My parents really encouraged us to solve our problems on our own, not to mention that they made us strive to always be the best. I hated back when I was a kid and even now I still hold some grudges but…” Sasuke mused for a second. “Now that I'm older I can understand why they chose to give this kind of education, when I notice that I'm usually more resilient and I'm more independent than most guys my age.”

“Well…from the way you say it, it really doesn't sound that bad. At least it wasn't anywhere traumatic.” Naruto muttered, sliding his fingers through his scalp. 

Sasuke snorted. “I definitely have some traumas here and there. But yes, nothing horrible for sure. I guess now that I’m older enough, I can respect their decision and get why, whenever I used to make a mistake or fail to succeed on anything, my parents would reprimand me instead of coddling back when I was a kid.”

Naruto fell silent to absorb his explanation, sensing it wasn’t over yet seeing Sasuke’s contemplative eyes. “...But…?” 

Sasuke sighed, shrugging. “But I guess, I really wished they would coddle me sometimes back when I was a kid. I can take some of their lessons to heart but I don’t think this is the right way to educate children. Not following to a tee, for sure.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. Pampering too much will create a spoiled brat, but too strict make a kid with a loooot of issues. No offense.” Naruto mumbled out.

“None taken. At least nowadays I've grown enough to get what happened to me and how my parents affected me. And with this knowledge I can at least try to change a bad habit I got out of it.”

Naruto moved to dry his nape, humming. “And what would that be?”

“Being too hard on myself.”

Naruto took some time to reflect while he let his hands ran through Sasuke’s hair. “Different types of education raises different types of people huh...mine was definitely different from yours. While your parents left you to fend by yourself most times, mine was the protective type.”

Sasuke turned around to face Naruto with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, mostly my mom’s side. My dad was cool though.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I mean…” Naruto noticed that the black hair was sufficiently dry so he moved to rub Sasuke’s shoulders. “I’m an only child, and all...my relatives said that my mom had some difficulties giving birth to me. So I guess sometimes she tended to overreact. But overall, I had a decent education.”  

“That doesn’t sound near as bad as mine.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t. But...like you’ve said, however flawed it was, the education your parents gave you, shaped you to be more independent right? My mother well…I got too used with her taking care of most of my things. You know, like jumping knowing for sure there’ll be a safety net below you?”

“But I guess that’s what all parents should do, isn’t it? Help their kids in their direst moments.”

“Yeah, maybe...but at least in my case I felt that I was getting too comfortable you know?” Naruto scratched the back of his head, musing. “I wouldn’t dare going too far, because their protective wing would always be there for me. Then I couldn’t take a step too far, afraid of losing this kind of...convenience.”

“I guess we all pass through this phase.” Sasuke tilted his head to one side to let Naruto massage his neck, sighing blissfully.

“True, but...I was getting too used from their protection. Which was what I feared the most too. That I would never grow up for real, not taking any risk and gaining my independency. That’s why I came up with this idea of traveling around the world, since it’s related with the field I graduated in college.”

“And what field would that be?” Sasuke asked, curious despite himself.

“I never told you?” Naruto replied.

Sasuke shook his head.

Blue eyes blinked, before Naruto said. “International relations.”

Sasuke perused him in silence, mentally picturing Naruto chatting with several foreigners with his usual welcoming grin. “It does fit you pretty well.”

“Thanks! Too bad aside from some internship programs here and there, I still hadn’t worked in my chosen profession.”

“Because you’ve been traveling across the globe so far.” Sasuke muttered, filling the gaps.

“Yeah. I said to my parents that before really getting in the job, I wanted to know more about other countries and their cultures, which is true, one part of it...but also it was my first bold move, outside of their world.” 

Sasuke snorted from Naruto’s exaggerated hand gestures, arms moving as if he was making a grandiose speech. “And how did they take the news?”

“Well…” Naruto wrinkled his nose in remembrance. “My dad was a little sad, but ready to help me out. My mom though...she looked like she was ready to break my legs if this what it took to hold me there. We fought a lot.”

Sasuke grimaced in commiseration. “I guess in the end, all parents are alike whenever their kids go off their planned rails.”

“Yeah…” Naruto chuckled. “They care about us after all. Even if it’s not the right way to do it.”

“True...but in the end they agreed with your decision right.”

“After few years...yeah. My mom still tries to convince me sometimes to come home. I mean, the first time, she refused to send me off at the airport, believing that this would guilt me enough for me to return to their side.”

“That sounds like something my mother would do too...if my brother wasn’t there to calm her down.”

“Crazy right? And she came close to succeeded it. First months traveling all by myself almost made me give up.”

“That bad?” Sasuke smirked.

“It was  **terrible** . I even considered coming home bawling my eyes off and never getting out of my country for the next few centuries, over some troubles I went through. Well, first I had to manage my own expenses, get used to share a room with complete strangers. Then, people stole my cellphone when I was too distracted, some other sold overpriced products to me just because I was foreigner, tourist guides trying to force me to buy some souvenirs...to name a few.” Naruto muttered. He poked Sasuke’s shoulder. “So, you should be grateful that I’m around helping you out or else who knows how many times you’d be tricked by some shady vendor.”

Sasuke snorted back. “But in the end you managed yourself in those trips.”

“Yeah well...I got used to it. I still visited them while I was touring around Europe. But once I went to Morocco and began visiting other countries in Africa, the price tickets went waaay up, so I couldn’t. Though at least it was worthwhile, the last time I saw my parents my mom acknowledged that I was serious about this project, so she let me off the hook just with the usual fussing and warnings. And one of the things she made me promise is to always wear this necklace she gave me.”

“The penis shaped necklace you’re wearing.” Sasuke deadpanned.

“Hey, in my mother’s defense, it’s not really hers.” Naruto laughed. “It used to be my aunt’s actually. My mom managed to convince my aunt to give it to me since it’s a sacred amulet, that guarded our family for generations.”

“Hm...seeing it close, I can’t imagine that it’s such an important jewelry.” Sasuke mumbled, holding the aquamarine crystal on his palm.

“Maybe, but I guess I believe in these kinds of things, protection and what not. One thing for sure it’s that this necklace has been passed down for centuries, my aunt used to show me some old photographs with relatives wearing that necklace. And back when I was a kid I was really impressed you know, can you imagine? A powerful jewel that protected my clan forever, I used to steal from her whenever I could for some adventures I had with my cousins. And once she realized that I stole from her oh boy...” Naruto shuddered.

“Pretty sure it was justified from her part.” Sasuke commented amusedly.

“Hey!” Naruto protested.

“You were probably the most uncontrollable hurricane in your family. I’m kind of pitying your parents, just imagining all the pranks you had done while growing up.”

“Funny, enjoyable and harmless pranks, for sure.” Naruto snorted.

“Sure.”

“It was! Or else, I wouldn’t have this necklace with me right?” When he met an skeptical raise of black eyebrow, Naruto amended. “Okay, the fact that I was pretty close to my aunt also worked in my favor.”

“Hn.” Sasuke stood up, picking the blow dryer and placing back to the bathroom as Naruto fluffed his pillow. “But despite all the rocky start, at least you went past your fears and succeeded fulfilling this dream. That’s quite an accomplishment.”

Naruto stared back before he let out a dry chuckle. “Uh, that’s one way to put it, looking from outside I guess.”

“You don’t feel accomplished?” Sasuke questioned.

“Well...I jumped out of their protective net to get into another one.” Naruto mumbled, drumming his pillow with his fingers. “I mean...I guess I’m still afraid. After all.”

“What do you mean by that…?” Sasuke muttered further bewildered, as he was already climbing to bed.

Though Naruto didn’t meet his inquisitive gaze, as he stretched his arms widely. He mumbled quietly. “I still haven’t returned to Europe, after all. Right?”

With his jaw hung low, Sasuke opened his mouth ready for more inquiries, but Naruto’s chirpy voice reeled in.

“Let’s go sleep already, tomorrow is our last day here in the Amazon!”

Sasuke’s eyes remained narrowed, thinning his lips until he settled with a sigh, readying himself to their slumber. He felt Naruto’s head resting close to his chest, his arms unconsciously wrapping around the lithe torso as his gaze lingered throughout the night.

\--.--.--

12 days, 11 hours and 43 minutes left till this trip was over. If only time could be stretched indefinitely, catching every detail of the forest surrounding the Amazon river, admire all the animals passing by, savoring all the exquisite fish they had caught seconds before.

The end was inevitable, but Sasuke couldn’t help but wish that these experiences; no matter how some were unpleasant, could endure for longer, even if reality was starting to knock close on the back of his mind.

Sasuke heard the jubilant shout and shook his head, walking towards Naruto as the latter was admiring the fish he just had caught. Sensing eyes gazing upon him, the blond man turned around, grinning widely. Sasuke had to restrain himself to crush his lips onto his, grab him so Naruto would always stay by his side.

Sasuke sighed loudly. 

Alright. He couldn't deny it any longer. He is now very much emotionally attached to Naruto. Like… Embarrassingly head over heels, heart beating faster kind of attachment. 

Though he considered this possible outcome, he didn’t expect that it’d overwhelm him so much. Even after repeating to himself over and over that this was a casual relationship, even if he knew the possible negative repercussions after this...he couldn’t help himself. There wasn’t a day he wasn’t dreading that he’d stop seeing frequently this energetic, crazy prankster and incredibly smart dumbass.

Yes, Sasuke already noticed the contradiction in the last sentence, but that’s the effect Naruto was doing to him.

There was no way he could ask Naruto if he felt the same...because that meant they would enter in a dangerous territory. Discussing, debating, relinquishing, long term plans...Sasuke couldn’t demand this kind of commitment from a man that didn’t even have a permanent place to sleep.

Even though Naruto claimed that he wasn’t satisfied with his current way of life, he was well adjusted enough that Sasuke couldn’t see him trading for anything else. Naruto might claim that his Instagram sponsors didn't sustain much of his daily budget, but it was a sizable money that helped him enough to keep his trip around the world.

Above all...it feels that Naruto wasn’t struggling much with the impending departure. Sure, Sasuke could see through Naruto’s strained smiles, but the blond man had built enough rapport to face it. But the fact that Naruto had formed this stability filled Sasuke’s heart with poisonous suspicions that...this might not the his first time this had happened.

And that was what it scared Sasuke the most; that he might be just a checkpoint in Naruto's journey as he's off to explore other grandiose places, meet new people. Sasuke wasn’t as special in Naruto’s heart, at least not as much Sasuke valued Naruto.

Acid curdled in his stomach so unpleasantly, imagining Naruto's sunny smiles turned to someone else, chatting energetically till sun would set on the horizon. 

Above all, he couldn't even picture (the mere idea of it would make Sasuke see red) a faceless person crawling in Naruto’s life, warming his bed. 

Sasuke could only blame himself. From the very beginning they kept it casual, so Sasuke had to settle with his own feelings even if Naruto might not reciprocate him as Sasuke would like. There were only few days left for them, so why risk crumbling any pleasantries they had right now…?

“Hey Sasuke.” Naruto said as they were eating dinner. “Don’t you think it’s better we decide our next destination before you go to São Paulo? The price for the air tickets must be off the roof.”

Sasuke grunted. “I think I’ll use my mileage account to get some discounts for us. I was thinking since we already explored midwest, northeast and north of Brazil, it’s time we should choose somewhere on the south.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, I’m in.” Naruto replied, beaming. “So let’s use the usual toss the coin on the coin and see where it’ll get us?”

Once back to the bedroom, they opened now the map of Brazil. As they stared the paper, now with several wrinkles and the edges dog-eared, they realized. This might be probably the last time they would do this game. Ice cold shards ran through their bodies as Naruto glanced towards Sasuke, mumbling.

“W-well. Do your thing.” He used his body to cover the northern part of the country. 

Swallowing dryly, Sasuke flipped the coin, both men watching the rise and descent of that round metal, as it twirled, moving and dropped above their last destination. Rio Grande do Sul. 

“Alright!” Naruto perked up, grabbing and turning on his laptop. “Let's see if anything interesting might pop out.”

Naruto willed his body to relax when, after a long pause, Sasuke sat on the bed with his own gadgets and began his own search. Naruto curled his hand to stop gathering more cold sweat, taking a deep breath in an attempt to focus on his task.

After several minutes with each man sitting at the edge of the room, Sasuke sagged a little in relief when Naruto approached and sat next to him, soft blond strands brushing and leaning on his shoulder. His face moved on his own, dropping a kiss on Naruto’s head before he could realize himself. Blue eyes flickered wide, face contorting within conflicted emotions. Sasuke felt himself tense in response, until, a smile smoothed out Naruto’s expression, playfully nudging him with his elbow.

Albeit still hesitant with the unfolding situation, Sasuke let it slide for now, refocusing on the various links presented to him. Naruto started chatting about interesting places he wanted to visit, but nothing had really caught their attention so far.

Sasuke found at last some...rather atypical photos that looked unlike the various locations they had went in Brazil. After further search in this city and finding some of its landmarks, a light bulb brightened on his head (again, Sasuke could only blame Naruto). 

Clearing his throat and laying on his trap, Sasuke maintained his cool aloof voice. “You know an interesting place we could go?” Sasuke felt his lip hitching higher to a teasing smirk.

“Hm?” Naruto was still distracted searching in his laptop.

“Gramado.” 

“What’s that place?” Naruto stopped for a while to glance curiously.

“It’s written here, that it’s a charming city with a distinct European style.”

Blue eyes instantly changed from inquisitive to deadpan in seconds. “We’re from Europe, why the fuck would I ever go to a European style city in Brazil?”

Sasuke was still smirking as he recited the information. “It was founded by Portuguese immigrants, later settled with German ones and now it has a good influx of Italian people.”

“I’m Italian!” Naruto protested. “There’s absolutely no point going there.”

“Imagine you Naruto. An Italian, walking around in a city full of Italian style of architecture, how meta would that be.” Sasuke declared amused. “They even built a medieval style of Museum.”

“No.” Naruto said, mildly horrified.

“We can even do some taste testing on vineyards.”

“No. No. N. O.” The blond man emphasized with an accusing finger. “I have some relatives who used to drag me to vineyards every school vacation back when I was a kid. I’m not interested in those.”

“I’m seeing more photos, it’s actually a more germanic style of house. But just imagine, visiting this city, and then actually realizing that you’re in Brazil. That is bound to give you some interesting insights right?”

“Are you fucking out of your mind? When I go to another country I want to see that country’s culture, not anything else.”

Sasuke tutted in disapproval. “That’s where you’re mistaken. Brazil is a cultural melting pot from various ethnicities and Germanic is one of them. It’s also interesting how it was adapted in this country as well as how it blended with others.”

Naruto frowned, pressing his lips together in thought. “I also found these ruins called São Miguel das Missões!” He responded with a grin. “We could go there instead!”

Sasuke stared the offered proposition, retorting. “This doesn’t look like a worthy choice to spend 5 whole days in it.”

“Well…”

Mentally shaking his head, Sasuke added. “We can also go to a canyon nearby, called Cambará do Sul.”

That piqued Naruto’s interest as he gazed with excitement the gorgeous photos displayed. His face softened as he muttered. “Um...but still. Are you sure?”

Sasuke nodded. “It’s a good break from our usual route after all. Plus, they say that they have heavy winters, I wanted to see how it’s like.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

\--.--.--

After long hours cooped on the plane, added with some hours traveling from the capital to Gramado by bus, both men stretched their legs, their bodies already feeling the difference in temperature.

A cold breeze passed by. Sasuke sighed content, adjusting his coat.

Naruto cursed under his breath, crossing his arms and rubbed them with his hands.

“This feels great.” Sasuke said.

When Naruto saw Sasuke’s satisfied smile, he grunted. “Are you serious, this is fucking terrible. I’m chilled to the bone.”

“Stop exaggerating, it’s not that cold. It’s only…” Sasuke checked his cellphone. “10 degree Celsius.”

“Is this also why you chose to visit this city?” Naruto grumbled.

“Why not? I’m tired of getting all sweaty from all the hot cities we went, plus it’s a nice change of environment.” Sasuke sniffed imperiously.

Naruto rolled his eyes, still muttering to himself as he picked his luggage, glancing unflapped the familiar European architecture around them.

However, Sasuke couldn’t explain himself but...Gramado was a city renowned for its romantic settings, which was the main reason he chose to visit it. They could finally enjoy each other’s presence without the need to focus on their schedule, walking through the idyllic streets. 

They strolled in a fancy area with green canopies and charming restaurants, sipping hot chocolate and assorted cookies. Naruto was still shivering a bit, his arms snaking around Sasuke’s as his body was practically glued to the brunet’s left side. 

Despite the initial impression of seeing the Germanic architecture in Brazil, they soon found some unique characteristics standing out. Their barbecue was incredibly savoury, large pieces of meat were stabbed with long skewers, all placed to be grilled around hot coals. Later on, it was served with salad and some mashed potatoes. They also discovered some sort of bitter hot tea placed on a gourd and they’d sip through a metal straw.

Some locals recommended them a folk dance presentation, as they watched men  [ with cool tap-dancing ](https://youtu.be/US3ejXSjvKM) ,  [ couples swaying ](https://youtu.be/pL7dFY3uC3M) across the room with grace.  [ The last performance had a tall wooden pillar with ribbons attached, each dancer held the other edge of it ](https://youtu.be/i8NT_Dl8ajI) . They danced in that cheerful rhythm while making an intricate knot over the pillar, all well choreographed as everything ended with merry applauses.

At this point, Naruto’s previous reservations had all disappeared, clapping the dancers with delight. They were walking back to their hostel, chatting about the various European influences on those dances and clothing, noticing some similarities with other Latin neighboring countries.

Too engrossed on their conversation, Naruto felt a sudden chill that made his body shift closer to Sasuke. He noticed a familiar white flake falling in front of him so he raised his hand, noticing more snowflakes gathering around them as the temperature was growing cold.

Naruto slackened his jaw. “Brazil snows??”

“It appears so.” Sasuke muttered, also catching some of it on his palm.

“How in the fuck--okay, I guess I can forgive you now, for dragging me in this forsaken place so I can experience the fact that Brazil can actually snow.” Naruto said mildly exasperated.

“Hn.” Sasuke chuckled. “You’re welcome I guess.”

“Seeing you being all full of yourself really makes me tempted to take my words back.” He grumbled.

“Will you really though?” Sasuke teased.

His eyes still narrowed, Naruto relented shaking his head, as he cupped his cheeks. Their lips touched in a melting kiss, starting softly as it grew in intensity, mouths parting and overlapping, with Sasuke’s hands pulling him closer.

Naruto took few steps back with his hands still holding Sasuke’s face, his eyes gazing how the pale skin was flushed with pleasure. Sasuke pecked his lips, a husky whisper close to his ear. “To be continued?”

Naruto chortled, grabbing Sasuke’s hand and linking their fingers. “Let’s see if you can warm me up enough for tonight.”

\--.--.--

7 days. He had only one week left until Sasuke would go back to his country.

Naruto couldn’t keep his mask any longer, hugging Sasuke’s body so tightly while they slept.

He really wanted to concentrate on their itinerary, but his whole mind was filled with thoughts about Sasuke. Even when they were walking to the top of the mountain with the usual slippery road, Naruto couldn’t stop the painful throbbing in his heart as he stared Sasuke’s back.

Once they reached the edge of the mountain, the vast canyon managed to distract them at last. Sasuke took deep inhales, stretching his muscles after this strenuous physical activity, as he dried the sweat and sat, savoring the view.

Sasuke noticed Naruto scooting closer as he rubbed his arms. “What are you doing?”

“Getting closer to you because your body can block this chilly wind.” Naruto grumbled, fumbling to sit next to him.

“Thanks, now I feel very used.” Sasuke mockingly elbowjabbed Naruto, but then felt two cold hands sliding inside his coat. “Hey!”

“Well, you’re warm!”

“And your hands are like ice, stop it.” Sasuke chastised him, grabbing both hands with an raised eyebrow.

Naruto retracted his hands with an obvious pout, his body shaking. He crossed his arms, placing his head on Sasuke’s shoulder. Not noticing the candid smile he was curling out of amused fondness, Sasuke allowed with Naruto’s shenanigans, sipping his lukewarm tea as they admired the sunset.

They weren’t alone in that mountain peak as several other tourists were walking around, snapping photos. Luckily they have gotten used to the noise of occasional chatter and camera shutters to let it disrupt their moment.

Naruto detached his head away from Sasuke’s shoulder, flexing his limbs. He noticed Sasuke’s eyes peering back at him, so he returned the gaze with a warm grin. “What?”

Perhaps it was the orange sunset casting rays of light and giving an exquisite glow on his golden hair, or how his blue eyes shined so softly, conveying so much affection towards him, this perfect second inviting Sasuke to close this gap, lips melding together in a loving caress.

Naruto’s heartbeats were racing miles per second, unable to control the flood of emotions that were overwhelming him through this seemingly simple kiss. He was running out of excuses; they weren’t doing this satiate some sexual foreplay, this wasn’t solely attached to physical attraction. When Sasuke retracted few inches back, lifting a sincere smile as they gazed towards each other, Naruto’s heart wrenched. Desperate, excruciating stabs lunging him, his fingers itching to hold Sasuke so tightly, never releasing him ever again.

Someone poked him from behind, and Naruto blinked out of stupor, turning around to see a complete stranger holding a camera. She said in broken English. “I’m sorry, do you speak portuguese?”

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged confused glances, as Naruto said. “I do. Why?”

She breathed a sigh of relief, and spoke in Portuguese. “I’m actually a photographer who has a blog about touristic sites in Brazil. So...I love photographing and you guys just gave me a perfect shot and I couldn’t resist, so I photographed you both.” She then proceeded to press something on her camera while Naruto translated her speech to Sasuke, as she turned the gadget around to show the aforementioned photo.

Both young men stared at it, showing only their backs in the middle of the photo as they watched the sun settling on the vast horizon, Naruto’s head placed on Sasuke’s shoulder.

“I’m not going to profit over this photo for sure, but I wanted to ask for permission because I don’t want to post it without your consent.” She declared, waiting for Naruto’s translation as Sasuke shrugged.

Naruto responded. “Sure, we don’t mind. You need us to sign something?”

“Yes, sure!” She perked up, grabbing her tablet and giving to them. They took some time to read the whole contract and Sasuke acknowledged that it was quite harmless, thus both signed the contract and returned to her. “Would you like the photo for yourselves?”

Naruto translated with a sheepish smile, though Sasuke shrugged once again. “Sure, give it to me afterwards.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.” Naruto said to her.

“Great! Wait a minute, I gotta change some settings on my camera, can you come over here to help me out…” She mumbled as Naruto stood up, walking few feet away and Sasuke returned to admire the view.

Naruto helped her out to send the photo via bluetooth as they momentarily struggled to pair the devices. While waiting to send the photo to his cellphone, she glanced Sasuke’s back, peeking back towards Naruto.

“So how long are you both married?” The photographer asked with a sweet smile.

His cheeks flamed up, with an unpleasant churn on his stomach. “We’re--I mean, we’re not--”

She had the grace to blush too. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I just felt like…you both looked so close.”

Naruto shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I mean...we’re just,” He shrugged awkwardly. “traveling together so…” And just like that, the conversation ended, a silent hanging between them as Naruto could feel inquisitive black eyes boring holes through his back.

“Well...anyways, sorry I misunderstood, it’s just that you both look like an adorable couple.” She mumbled, fidgeting the camera’s controls. “Here, you received the photo?”

“Yes...yes.” Naruto whispered, his mind desperately attempting to control the turmoil raging his heart. Unbeknownst to himself, the photographer studied his downcast gaze tightening in despair, blue eyes bright from unshed tears.

“Um...I know it’s not my place to say anything but…” She patted his shoulders and squeezed a little bit. “Everything will be alright if you guys can talk it out. Right?”

Naruto nodded numbly, with a mumble of thanks as he returned to Sasuke’s side. Despite the questioning expression shown on his face, the brunet didn’t ask any further noticing Naruto’s troubling expression. He sent the photo to Sasuke’s cellphone, as the latter observed with an approving grunt, saving to his album.

They spent other few minutes sitting next to each other, Naruto’s head still pounding painfully. He tried to calm his loud beating heart, noticing Sasuke standing up and speaking.

“I think I stayed long enough here, maybe it’s time to go. Is that ok for you?”

Naruto stared back, nodding while Sasuke walked back to the entrance.

Seeing the back was retreating farther from his eyes, Naruto inhaled, pursing his lips. “Say, Sasuke--”

There’s no time for hesitation. 7 days left. He was sure Sasuke returned his feelings, so why did he delay this for so long? He should confess, confront Sasuke’s answer, recognize their mutual emotions, then…

And then…

And then what?

A cold rush filled his body when Naruto realized all possible outcomes. Sure, they might have reciprocated feelings, but where exactly they could go from now on? Sasuke never planned to spend his entire life just traveling around the world. He still had his career, family and friends in his home, he intended to return soon. Naruto wasn’t enough to keep him around.

Keeping this relationship while maintaining their current lifestyle? What would be the point of it all, when Naruto wouldn’t be sure the next time he’d see Sasuke...he couldn’t ask for commitment when he couldn’t offer one too...

Naruto couldn’t go with Sasuke to France, not when Sasuke just got fired so he’d take some time to find a new job. Plus, Naruto wouldn’t know how long it’d take, for him to get a job too (if he’d be able to get any job, moreover), he couldn’t impose living in Sasuke’s house, leeching off his resources and space.

No, wait…why the fuck was he even assuming that he could live with Sasuke too? Naruto breathed rapidly, closing his eyes in a frown. They barely know each other for a month and he's already forcing himself in Sasuke’s apartment just like that? Two unemployed men living in a capital known for its high expenses, and he’s draining Sasuke’s already limited bank account this selfishly?

“Naruto?” Sasuke’s puzzled tone broke Naruto’s out of reverie as he blinked wide, his eyes unfocused.

“Y-yeah!” Naruto cleared his throat.

“You called me for something.” Sasuke said.

Naruto stared back, heartbeats increasing in desperation.

No...no. This is enough. This should be enough. He’s not going to demand for more, he’s not going to crave more than he should. He’s going to take all these moments shared, those precious moments engraved to his heart and let Sasuke go, even if it’d shatter him into a million pieces. He could endure this, without having to take that impossible path and the inevitable break up.

Naruto adjusted his grimace to a neutral face, muttering. “No, it’s just--I was thinking we could go to a pub once we’re back to the city.”

“That’s it…?” Sasuke asked, eyebrows knitted.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it.” Naruto hurried to add. “Let’s get going, the sun is going to set soon and I don’t want to freeze to death.”

He passed through Sasuke close perusal, praying that his feelings hadn’t shown too much to ruin everything.

The pathway down ceased any lighthearted vibe, with Naruto’s usual chattering clipped out and Sasuke’s eyes all aimed towards him.

He wanted to melt away this strained silence, to go back to their usual quips and bickering, but unable to do so. In some easier paths, Naruto even used his cellphone to avoid looking back at Sasuke, cursing himself for his ineptitude.

They reached the entrance of the park at last. In an attempt to break this spell, Naruto called, showing an article. “Hey Sasuke, there’s a brewery close to us. We could go you know.”

Onyx eyes were still narrowed, but Sasuke approached nevertheless. “It’s interesting…” He checked the clock and Google maps. “But I think that we wouldn’t be able to arrive on time. They are closing soon.”

“Oh well…” Naruto mumbled in frustration, unable to dissipate the heavy air. He forced a cheerful tone. “Next time then right!”

Sasuke halted his movements at once.

Naruto continued walking towards their car, his head still clouded to notice the sudden change.

His mouth opened gradually, moving it in a hiss. "…right." 

The blatant bitterness coming from Sasuke’s voice caught Naruto’s attention, as he turned around. "Sasuke...?"

Sasuke’s hands clenched into a fist, furrowed eyebrows marrying his handsome face. "When is this 'next time' going to happen?” He snarled. “One month? Two months? A year? Five? A decade? Never?" he growled, his voice increasing together with his burgeoning frustration. "Stop fucking lying to yourself Naruto, or at least stop making up hopeless ideas when you know it's not going to happen anyways!" 

His scream echoed through the forest, breathing heavily with his mouth still countourted in a snarl.

Naruto stared back wide-eyed, his mouth hung open as his anguish mirrored his own. Once he recovered enough, he moved closer to Sasuke, hands gripping his arms. “Sasuke…” He uttered out, cold fingers wrapping on the pale cheek. “You...you want to talk about this…?” 

Sasuke’s breaths trembled, unable to keep his emotions at bay. "…is it too late anyways?" He whispered.

"Sasuke…"

“If it’s too late….” He shook his head. "Then, I don't want to talk about it."

Naruto dropped his hands, releasing Sasuke from his grasp as he moved in a rush, entering the car and shutting the car loudly. After torturous minutes, Naruto sat on the seat next to him, not uttering one word in the entire trip back to the city.

Any plan felt needless as they went back to their bedroom, the silence welding a physical gap between them. Naruto let Sasuke take a shower first, and once he finished his own Sasuke was already lying on their bed, back facing him.

Rubbing his eyes, Naruto bit his lower lip as he turned the lights off, laying down on his side. He spent the rest of the night with his eyes focused on Sasuke’s body, taking a deep inhale and curling close, no sign of drowsiness in his mind.

Little did he know that Sasuke stayed awake too, gaze fixed in the darkness.

_ 6 days left… _

_ \--.--.-- _

**AN: YES. BRAZIL DOES SNOW. Anyways...next chapter...yeah, get ready for it…**

**All kinds of reviews are certainly welcomed~~pleaseeee~~~**


	8. Itinerary 8

Naruto groaned while he rubbed his eyes with his hand, his energy down despite having a night of sleep. Huffing, he turned around, only to notice that Sasuke was already awake, watching him.

“Morning.” Sasuke spoke softly, his fingers reaching to comb the blond hair.

“Morning.” Naruto mumbled back, staring back in a silent question, waiting, eyes almost begging for it.

His mouth met no resistance when they kissed, Naruto parted his lips as he nibbled playfully, groaning once their tongues wrapped, savoring their tastes. Naruto cupped his face, his mouth melding onto Sasuke’s, a constant drum of his heartbeats encompassing those caresses.

Blue eyes slowly blinked, breath catching on his throat once he looked Sasuke’s warm gaze, his thumb stroking Naruto’s temple. The blond man noticed at last strong ray of lights peeking through the blinds, as he muttered. “What time is it now?”

“Probably 10.” Sasuke said nonchalantly.

“What?!” Naruto exclaimed, sighing. He couldn’t get a wink of sleep last night though, mulling about their situation until his tired brain called in quits at last. He noticed Sasuke approaching once again, his bangs brushing on the tanned cheeks as he reached for another langurous kiss.

“Let’s take it slow today anyways, we’re in no need for any hurry right.” Sasuke whispered in between mild peck of lips, soft wet noises peppered with some moans. Sasuke exhaled closely, their breaths mingling.

After some minutes perusing Naruto, he murmured. “Naruto. I was thinking…”

Panic surged in his mind as the blond man grumbled, almost fearful. “What?”

“Can I choose the hotel we’ll be staying in São Paulo? If you wouldn’t mind.”

When he absorbed the question, Naruto felt the cold dread leaving at once. “Um...sure.” He mumbled relieved.

Sasuke nodded, kissing him again. “Good.” Naruto’s heart raced once he saw the dark eyes acquiring a smoldering glint. However, before he could inquire he felt skilled fingers wrapping around his length as Sasuke’s mouth was scaling down his body. This was all what needed for him to moan, eyes shutting with a lustful gasp.

\--.--.--

Naruto sighed, checking his passport as Sasuke was putting his luggage to the flight attendant. No matter how long he was getting prepared for the impending end, how much he tried to build up his defenses, everything was for naught, unable to face these turbulent feelings.

But what else was he expecting? This relationship had an expiry date, the very moment this had started. He couldn’t wish for more, not when he couldn’t see any way out no matter how much he wrecked his brains thinking about it.

Naruto considered asking Sasuke to follow his trips but dropped once he knew that Sasuke wasn’t fit for this kind of lifestyle. Despite his decision to visit Brazil was out of his usual comfort zone, Sasuke is used to have a set of guides and a minimal amount of routine for him. And even though he didn’t leave in good terms with his parents regarding this trip, he did respect them and was fond of his family, had few but close knit friends and didn’t appear that he wanted to relinquish from them so soon.

He never complained outloud, but it was plain as day that this wasn't Sasuke's usual life. Sasuke was used to a higher standard, surrounded with good food, soft beds and hot showers; a place to call his home. There was no way he would relinquish these so easily living sometimes in subpar conditions, sharing a small room full of strangers, walking through disgusting streets and moving place to place constantly.

Sasuke always viewed this trip as something temporary, that would expand his horizons but he wouldn’t necessarily do it all the time, not to the point of drastically changing his usual habits.

Above all, Naruto couldn’t bring himself to ask for more...

They arrived in their last destination; São Paulo. After spending many days in touch with nature and barely getting in contact with urban areas, the frenetic noises of humans speeding around startled them. While waiting for their taxi to arrive, their ears still took some time to adapt with the loud honks of stressed drivers, as Naruto and Sasuke shared a look of amused complicity with metropolitan people.

This brief pause soon shattered once they got in the car, realizing how time was still moving mercilessly. Both young men couldn’t talk on the way, Sasuke kept staring on the landscape from behind the window as Naruto threw some side glances from time to time, his trembling hand holding his smartphone.

With his mind preoccupied, Naruto almost missed the taxi driver mentioning that they were getting close to their destination. His eyes skimmed through the tall, modern buildings, slowly recognizing the area they were going as he was getting further confused. Why were they going to one of the most expensive districts in São Paulo...surely the driver must be mistaken, right…

However, once the car parked in front of a luxurious building and bellboys were already picking their luggage, Naruto widened his eyes, grabbing Sasuke’s arm. “Sasuke⏤! This hotel⏤”

The brunet stared back. “What about it?”

Naruto slackened his jaw, mumbling. “This⏤it looks expensive as hell, we can’t afford-”

“I want to. Let me pay for it.” Sasuke responded evenly.

“What?!” Naruto blurted out. He shook his head. “No way, I can’t let you do th⏤”

“It’s…this can be the last time.” Sasuke confessed quietly, face contorted in anguish.

Naruto immediately dropped whatever protest were coming his way.

Sasuke’s chin was quivering a little with his eyebrows furrowed. “If it’s⏤maybe, it’s the las-” He gulped dryly. “If it is...I want to. End in a high note, if it’s possible. Please.” He held Naruto’s face, touching lovingly his cheeks. “Let me do this for you, at the very least.”

Naruto stared back with matching agony, studying him. All of a sudden, Naruto pulled Sasuke’s body close, his lips reaching to a passionate kiss that robbed his breath.

“Let me pay all the dinners then.” Naruto muttered, fingers laced altogether and resting on Sasuke’s back.

Sasuke nodded wordlessly, kissing him again. While they were checking in, he took every minute to peer the bright excitement coming from Naruto, marveling the elegant architecture and stylish decoration. Sasuke drank in all the vivacious tone returning to his voice, despondency leaving for brief moment as they entered their chosen room.

Sasuke kept gazing only upon the joy reflecting on Naruto’s face, as he strolled to admire the gorgeous night view of the city. He drew the curtains out, chattering non-stop.

"You're lucky this time Sasuke, because I lived in this city for a whole month and I know it like the back of my hand. So where do you want to go; art gallery, historic place, maybe a bar? You want anything in specific?"

"I want you."

Naruto swiveled around, every myriad of emotion displayed raw open in those pair of blue eyes.

Sasuke slowly opened his mouth, trying to keep his trembling voice at bay. "Just you. Nothing else."

In an immediate rush, arms were raised, bodies touching with a searing kiss. Naruto clutched Sasuke’s hair desperately as he devoured his lips. He was stumbling backwards, with hands gripping the tanned torso, throwing his jacket to the ground as Sasuke stripped his orange shirt. He was also moving in a blur, tossing aside Sasuke’s shirt in between breathless kisses.

Naruto vaguely felt his back bumping on a sideboard, fingers fumbling to unzip his jeans as their mouths welded all the way through. He hurried to shove the last article of his clothes away, gasping when moist lips sucked his throat, Sasuke’s erection rubbing on his own.

He flung away whatever objects nearby, sitting on the top of the wooden surface. His legs wrapped around Sasuke’s torso into a tight lock, his entire mind was filled with nothing but a frenzied lust, hot tingles spreading through his body as their kisses were escalating with urgency.

Naruto thrusted harshly their cocks together, grabbing Sasuke’s hand and moving it to poke his taint. He growled when Sasuke instead detached their bodies, lowering in search of his discarded pants. Fingertips barely brushed the fabric when his dark hair was gripped roughly, Naruto capturing his mouth with another sizzling kiss.

At this point Sasuke was blindly searching for the bottle, unable to concentrate on the task at hand when his body was caressed everywhere. Naruto groaned with impatience when he heard the cap of the lube opening, Sasuke coating his finger. He sat on the sideboard once again, legs widening with their bodies interlocking perfectly, finger brushing his entrance.

Naruto swatted it away, thrusting his cock forward. “Do it now.”

Sasuke licked his adam apple, whispering. “Naruto…”

“I want it now. C’mon⏤” Naruto moaned.

“I don’t⏤” Sasuke gasped when warm hand enveloped his rigid dick, pulling closer to the tight hole.

“C’mon Sasuke⏤” Naruto shuddered in anticipation, mouths attached, tasting the swelling of their feelings. “Just do it now⏤I want it now⏤”

Sasuke shut his eyelids, trying to keep his instincts at bay even though Naruto kept spurring with hushed insistence. An electric fire coursed through his veins when the head of his cock poked the hot entrance, as he hurried to roll the condom over it, impaling Naruto with a sharp thrust.

Naruto wholly accepted this overwhelming pain, exhaling a loud scream, pushing any remaining doubts and boundaries away. He slowly opened his eyes, gazing upon earnest dark ones as his nails dug on Sasuke’s back.

“Sasuke⏤”

Sasuke gasped when Naruto rolled his hips.

“C’mon, do it⏤” Naruto’s arms woven tightly until there wasn’t any gap left, touching every inch of his skin. “Just do it⏤c’mon, c’mon, c’mon⏤FUCK YES⏤” Naruto shouted hoarsely once Sasuke lunged hard, already settling a ruthless rhythm.

Trinkets were falling and breaking to the carpet floor, the sideboard kept banging to the wall as Sasuke kept ramming forward. Nothing else mattered at this moment aside pleasuring Naruto, spreading his legs wide as Sasuke obeyed every command, his cock penetrating him harder, faster, deeper. He was soaring every time Naruto uttered his name in between broken words, hungry for more of those fervid mewls.

He continued to plunge inside harshly, staring the lithe body contorting in sinful ecstasy, their foreheads touched as their only anchor. Naruto was panting fast, tanned fingers holding the back of his neck as he took more of that thick cock burrowed in his tight hole, hips pistoning faster and faster. His orgasm swarmed him, cum spraying all over their bodies and drizzling on his stomach as Sasuke also drove over the edge with one last locked thrust.

They still took long minutes to catch their breath, foreheads still touching with eyes not breaking their passionate gaze. Naruto’s lips grazed upon his as Sasuke readily opened his mouth, grunting, tongues sliding together.

Naruto broke the kiss still gasping, blue eyes staring black ones. “Shower?” He breathed out, their lips brushing closely.

After shower, they had another round of sex, only interrupted when their stomachs growled in protest.

Thus...this was how they spent their next days. At first, they went to some landmarks under Naruto’s insistence, but didn’t spend much time visiting, not to mention Sasuke only had chosen whatever was available in the neighborhood.

So with Sasuke’s complete disinterest for any sightseeing, they used every waking hour making love. In the bathtub, on the marbled floor, on the door, on the wall, on the carpeted floor, on the sofa, over the bar table (it was a wonder they managed not to break anything), on the kitchen table, in the bed. When they weren’t having sex in every possible surface, they ate between their usual quips and teasing bickering, that continued as they were brushing their teeth, washing their bodies, with Naruto drying Sasuke’s head, humming in contentment the way fingers were threading through his dark strands of hair.

Clothes were meaningless now, with their nude bodies in the open, completely bare. They took every opportunity when any banter would turn flirtatious for more, with Sasuke’s hard dick pulsating inside that tight hotness, staring those blue eyes that shined even in midst of that dark night. In every sex position imaginable, he would make sure he’d see Naruto’s stunning face as he orgasmed, his mind ingraining every little detail to his memory, exploring every inch of the sun-kissed body till it solely belonged to him. Naruto riding his cock, Naruto’s legs thrown over his shoulder as he met his thrusts, Naruto sitting on his lap, dick impaled in a snuggle fit inside his ass while their mouths were fused tightly, hip attached to hip rolling together till they came as one.  

Those memories were confined in that room, almost as if they created their private bubble, their own time away from everything else. Sasuke lost grasp of reality of whatever was outside, but nothing mattered, as long as Naruto was here, with him.

As he screamed when Naruto drove him to another completion, Sasuke felt Naruto collapsing next to him, their energies spent to close another night. At the back of his mind Sasuke knew what tomorrow was...but the way Naruto’s body was draping on his own like a warm blanket, wet lips kissing his chest as his lover prepared for his slumber, his own eyelids shut in blissful sleep.

Morning came...with the sun filtering through the windows and casting a light on their bodies. Sasuke grunted in reaction, furrowing his eyebrows. He squinted his eyes before opening them fully, his aching limbs protesting within each move. Sasuke soon realized that Naruto was nestled on his chest, head resting on his arm as a makeshift pillow.

Perhaps Naruto felt Sasuke’s body was no longer warming him that stirred him up, Sasuke could see Naruto’s eyeballs moving beneath the closed eyelids. He groaned too, sighing as he blinked awake, gradually noticing his surroundings and gazing upon Sasuke’s close proximity. With a charming tousled bed hair, the sun-kissed skin littered with his hickies and eyes still fuzzy from sleepiness, Naruto widened an affectionate smile, breathing out. “Morning.”

Sasuke’s greeting got lost on his throat, staring this precious second, hopelessly knowing that it might be his last. He didn’t want this to end, he wouldn’t--he wanted this to become a permanent fixture in his life, Naruto greeting him every morning as they slept hugging their bodies tightly together.

Sasuke approached close to his face. “Naruto…” Sasuke kissed his forehead, moving to speak softly on the tanned earlobe. “You want to come with me to France?”

When Naruto’s eyes snapped open, smile dissolving in an instant as reality crashed in, Sasuke understood. The magic was over.

Yet he observed with his chin lifted in defiance, as Naruto propped his upper body with his arms, shifting into a sitting position and facing Sasuke.

Naruto opened his mouth but Sasuke interrupted him. “It’s not a bad idea is it? It’s been years since you left Europe, you can visit your parents while stay with me. So go with me now.”

Naruto’s mouth shut, observing him. He opted to tread very carefully, speaking in a soft tone. “Sasuke...I don’t think I can buy a ticket right now, it’s probably all booked.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know if you didn’t try.” Sasuke sniffed.

“And even if there’s a vacant seat, it’s probably expensive as hell since I’m buying at the last minute. I can’t pay all that money.”

“I will.”

“Sas-” Naruto closed his eyes, breathing out heavily. “I won’t let you do that. You already paid this expensive hotel room, you just lost your job so I can’t let you wasting money over me.”

“It’s not a waste.” Sasuke retorted and before Naruto could complain, he added. “Fine, I can lend you the money and you can pay me back later. Come with me today.” Sasuke stood up, searching for his boxers and pants, while Naruto followed suit, also picking up his clothes.

“Sasuke, are you sure? There’s no way Paris is a cheap city to live in and we’re two grown men spending money daily. I don’t want you to regret this decision.”

“I can live of with unemployment insurance for a while, it’ll be enough until we can both find a job somehow.” Sasuke retorted, putting on his clothes as he went to find his smartphone.

“Only you will get this money from the French government Sasuke, while I’ll get none. The money is only enough for one person and I’ll just drag you down, when you are used to a certain level of your living standards⏤”

“Who cares!” Sasuke growled out. “I’ll do anything, sell my apartment if necessary. Why are you resisting so much to go with me Naruto?!”

Naruto stared back the infuriating black eyes, his darkest fears surfacing as he said. “I don’t want you to do a reckless decision because of me!”

“THIS IS THE LAST DAY!” Sasuke exploded and Naruto could only watch stunned this sudden outburst of emotions. Sasuke grabbed both arms in a vice grip, voicing his anguish. “Naruto...this is the last day I’ll see you every day, the last day I get to have you next to me all day, the last time...you really want this to end it. Like that?”

“I don’t.” Naruto reassured him, but shook his head. “I really don’t, but I also don’t want you to throw your life away just-”

“I DON’T CARE NARUTO.” Sasuke growled, pacing around the room. “Why is it so difficult for you to go with me to France? Why do you keep making excuses after excuses?!”

“SASUKE, THOSE ARE NOT EXCUSES.” Naruto also raised his voice, gripping Sasuke’s arm to keep his attention. “I’m just thinking about these because I care about you! What I’m talking to you right now are just the most obvious problems we’ll probably face and we didn’t even scratch the surface! Don’t you get it? You’re usually very careful but you’re only acting on impulse! I don’t want you to regret this later!”

“That doesn’t matter! This is the last day, and I don’t want to end it like that, I want to keep this, drag you if I have to.”

Naruto deflated his shoulders, staring how this usual taciturn man became so agitated. He never wanted to unbalance Sasuke so much, never like this. “You don’t have to go this far for me. What if everything goes wrong?”

Sasuke scoffed, glaring. “You have this much faith in me?”

“N-no! I didn’t mean that-” Naruto babbled, feeling that this discussion was losing grasp of any control. “I...Sasuke...let’s just think for a second, really think this through. Is this really something both you and me want this to happen.”

“I don’t care about anything Naruto! As long as you’re with me⏤!” Sasuke declared, all traces of his usual coolness gone. “Just go with me, right here, right now.”

“We⏤I can visit you later, when we planned this through…” Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke shook his head vehemently. “I don’t⏤” He didn’t want to admit that he was scared stiff that the moment he’d let Naruto out of his grasp he’d lose him indefinitely, buried between mountains of excuses and the long distance separating them. “No, it has to be now.”

“You’re being irrational Sasuke, I can’t just go with you like that. I spent all my money with this trip so I already accepted a part-time job as an English teacher here in São Paulo. I already booked my entire trip to Argentina for the following months. If I cancel I’ll lose all this money.”

“I’ll think of something, somehow.” Sasuke said flippantly.

“Sasuke...”

He held Naruto’s arms once again, head dropping on his shoulder. “Just go with me Naruto. Cancel this job, who cares, you’re not going back to Brazil soon so you won’t get a bad job referral. Cancel this trip to Argentina, we can go there later. I’ll repay you⏤”

“Sasuke, c’mon⏤” Naruto hated how Sasuke’s despair was bleeding in his voice, cracking hoarsely. “I want to go with you right now, but we can’t, we can plan for the next months or-”

“JUST GO WITH ME.” He interrupted once again, feeling like a lost child stubbornly throwing a tantrum to get something he couldn’t have. “I don’t care whatever consequences, if you just stay with me-”

“Sasuke, I want to, but-”

“STOP SAYING BUTS.” Sasuke shouted, shaking Naruto a little. His eyes zeroed on blue ones, snarling. “Do you want to, or don’t you want to Naruto?!”

Staring at the earnest expression, Naruto’s mind blanked out. He muttered. “I want to⏤”

Sasuke released his arms, exhaling loudly, already expecting the impending end.

“But we can’t⏤” Naruto stared the ground, mumbling. “I mean, like I’ve said, we can plan for later...”

Sasuke turned around with another loud huff. Somehow, the fact that Naruto was only seeing his back as his lover was striding to the window gave an ominous feeling dropping on his gut, as he walked towards him, hand raised. “Sasuke⏤”

Sasuke jerked his arm away from his grasp, turning back to face him with a glower. “Again, with more excuses. Do you really want to stay with me Naruto?”

“I do, I really-” He said somberly.

“Maybe you don’t but you’re pitying me, so you’re throwing all this bullshit on my way.”

This accusation stabbed painfully in his heart, as Naruto growled back. “Sasuke, I’m not⏤”

“Maybe you don’t actually care, at all⏤” Sasuke threw his arms to the air, pacing across the room.

“Wait, listen to me…”

“Maybe you can’t wait to end this, so you can go to another trip and completely forget about me as soon as possible. That’s why you’re so eager to get rid of me.” Sasuke muttered with bitterness.

He regretted voicing those words in that instant, his own heart also shocked on how he could spill such venom towards the only person he knew wouldn’t do such thing to him. His remorse shook him to the core, because Naruto made an expression as if he had physically punched his gut.

Sasuke mumbled looking down in shame. “Naruto, I didn’t mean-”

“No, I know you didn’t.” The blond man whispered in a dangerous low tone. “But I’m still going to answer, just so it’ll be crystal clear what I feel about you.”

He straightened his back, sapphire eyes glowing in a fierce fury. He strode forward as Sasuke swallowed, shrinking back.

“Do you have any idea how many nights I couldn’t sleep, just staring at that fucking clock and wishing time would just stop between us? Or how much I tried to believe that you’re better off without me, that I shouldn’t bother you because we swore we’d keep it casual even though I knew I couldn’t do this with you? How much I tried to hide my feelings for you because Sasuke⏤” Naruto reach to stroke Sasuke’s face, tracing his cheeks. “I have fallen so hard for you. From the very first moment I saw you, the first second⏤and I have fallen harder and harder, like no one else. Only for you.”

Sasuke just wordlessly absorbed this candid confession, the way his skin warmed from that trembling touch, their bodies so close to each other and yet it felt so far from his grasp…

Naruto dropped his hand, eyes closed in a frown. “I’ve never wanted someone this much⏤no matter how much I pleaded for a miracle to happen or anything like it, I⏤I know that this was my selfish feelings, and I shouldn’t stop you, even if it broke me inside⏤every day, I wanted you more and more but maybe I kept thinking that if we could only build happy memories while we’re together, I could leave a permanent impact in you, even if it broke me apart. At least something of me that would linger in your life.”

“You’re far more important to me than you believed Naruto. I also⏤”

“I know. I know. We...just kept ignoring. We should have talked this through and now it’s too late.” Naruto hiccuped, rubbing his face with his hands. “I can’t believe we’re having this fight, the last day we’re in this together.”

“I know.” Sasuke muttered quietly.

“I can’t believe that this is how we’re going to end...like that.” Naruto spoke despondent.

“I know.” Sasuke said, equally distraught.

Naruto let out a heavy sigh, his head shaking for a very long time as Sasuke observed, his hands half raised in question. With a sharp inhale, Naruto turned around, walking towards the door.

This vision of Naruto’s back moving away from him made Sasuke’s brain go haywire, coldness flooding his entire soul. He called, his emotions raw and panicked. “Naruto⏤⏤⏤!”

He was instantly enveloped by a warm hug, Naruto holding tightly his body.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Naruto murmured close to his ear.

Sasuke felt a knot gathering his throat, as his fingers clung on Naruto’s t-shirt.

“I just thought⏤it’d be better if I gave you some space, and…” Naruto spoke.

“No.” Sasuke buried his nose on his chest. “Please don’t go.”

Naruto’s hands moved to caress his head, combing through his black hair.

“I’m sorry...I said those words to you.” Sasuke confessed quietly.

“It’s ok.” Naruto reassured.

Sasuke inhaled, soaking all Naruto’s warmth into him. With his presence it was always easier to dispel whatever darkness was lurking in his heart. Sasuke declared. “I’m also sorry I didn’t consider your feelings before pushing my decisions onto you.”

“It’s ok Sasuke, it’s ok…” Naruto exhaled a breath, tightening his hold around his body. Countless minutes passed just like that, with the blond man making soothing touches on Sasuke’s back. Naruto extracted himself from him inch by inch, cupping his face. He dropped a long, amorous kiss before mumbling. “I’ll help you organizing your luggage ok.”

Sasuke nodded briskly, kissing him again. Slowly but surely, they concentrated on their task, picking up all the souvenirs bought, tying all the cables and folded all clothes, neatly placed in Sasuke’s stylish suitcase. Once he zipped it close, he threw one last glance towards his lover, but Naruto only gave him a half smile back.

The trip back to the airport was filled with a long silence, hands linked as the tanned thumb rubbed circles on his skin. Sasuke let his head rest on Naruto’s shoulder, both staring at the passing lights on the road though neither really paid attention to it.

When they arrived at the chosen airlines company, Sasuke moved to join the long line. Seeing his back, as he was walking farther and farther from his reach collapsed any form of armor Naruto was building through as he clutched his arms firmly. “Sasuke, don’t go.”

Sasuke almost tripped back from the sheer force of Naruto’s hold, as he turned around to glance back.

Naruto continued to babble. “Stay with me, travel with me. Just cancel this fucking trip back, we can continue explore the world together, just forget about your home, as long as you’re with m⏤” His eyes slowly widened in epiphany staring Sasuke’s shocked eyes.

He gradually released Sasuke’s arm, dragging his feet few steps back. Sasuke grabbed his hands before the distance could be further increased.

The brunet hesitated, before voicing out. “I can’t return the ticket, since we bought from a deal that won’t accept any refund.”

“I know.” Naruto muttered back.

“There’s still so much for me to do it, talk to my family and friends, maybe organize my house, rent to someone…”

“I know.” Naruto insisted. He dropped his shoulders, head bowed down. “I’m so stupid.”

Unable to give any kind of retort, Sasuke approached, kissing the top of his blond head, as he joined the long line at the counter service.

Two hours were left before Sasuke would have to go to the Security Checkpoint. They just wandered aimlessly, hands linked, drinking some coffee at a café with Naruto’s arm placed around Sasuke’s shoulder.

Naruto kept playing with his hand absentmindedly, interlacing and lightly tapping his palm, in a way he never lost this skin to skin contact. Two hours shortened to one and a half, and then turned to one…50 minutes, 45 minutes, 30…

Sasuke checked his watch, sighing. “10 minutes…”

Naruto stood up, also checking the time. “You’re right. I’ll go with you to the Checkpoint.”

They practically counted each step as they were getting closer to the last destination. From afar they could see that there was a mild waiting line, with several frenetic businessmen and other tourists. Their hearts was throbbing painfully on their chest, making their feet glued to the ground. Naruto was even struggling to breathe as Sasuke was few meters away, ready to go.

Before Sasuke could get to the entrance, Naruto stopped him, hand holding him down. Once he got his attention, the blond man gazed back, tilting his head forward as he unclasped his necklace.

He stared the gleaming azure jewel on his palm for a moment, before he gathered Sasuke’s hand and gently placed the necklace over it. “I want to give this to you.”

Sasuke widened his eyes, hurriedly pushing it back. “Naruto, I really appreciate this, but I shouldn't.”

Naruto clenched his hand around Sasuke, nudging forward. “I’m insisting. It’s yours.”

Sasuke shook his head. ”I can’t have it, this necklace is so important to you⏤”

“THAT’S WHY!” The sudden outburst caught everyone’s attention as Naruto’s hands tightened over his, furrowed lines being etched so acutely on his face. His voice rasped out thick with emotions, caressing the alabaster skin. “This is why I want you to have it.”

He threw a shy glance when Sasuke relaxed his hold, his palm was still holding the necklace. Naruto grabbed each side of the chord, hands moving behind Sasuke’s neck as he clasped it again. Staring the familiar jewel now with a different owner evoked inexplicable emotions to Naruto, as he looked towards the onyx eyes.

His fingers played with the black chord till his palm rested on Sasuke's chest. "It looks good on you." Naruto whispered, his voice watery.

Two hands held his face, mouths touching with the increasing thrums of their hearts. Then Naruto enveloped his arms around him, drawing him closer, kissing urgently, clinging as if Sasuke was his only lifeline. They kissed like nothing else mattered in the world, lips locking as everything surrounding them became so insignificant, people passing by became a blur, noises were only a small buzz and even time had stopped in those sole, long, minutes. Lost in this infinitude of emotions, Sasuke let himself drown within this array of sensations, Naruto’s warmth and his citrusy smell, his soft lips with its unique taste. Every sense focused in those bittersweet, pleasurable caresses, dearly wishing that this moment would stretch an eternity and they’d stay like this…forever.

Regrettably, Naruto was the first one to pull out, dispelling this enchantment inch by inch. Their gazes locked for a moment, Naruto brushed his lips towards Sasuke so tenderly, reigniting another lengthy kiss, its warmth giving pleasant tingles that expanded throughout his skin. Naruto detached with a heavy sigh. His arms were lowering down like it was the most difficult chore he had ever done, noticing that Sasuke’s hands were still lingering on his waist. He took few steps back, thinning his lips as he cleared his throat.

“Well.” He rasped out. Naruto couldn’t meet Sasuke’s eyes, his own hand was still traitorously holding Sasuke’s arm. He let it go balling into a fist, noticing that Sasuke’s hands were also freeing from his grasp and let it drop completely. He could still feel the heat emanating close to his body. Shaking his head, Naruto shut his eyes briefly.

He raised his head, a hitched breath escaped through when he stared Sasuke’s eyes. There was so much he wanted to say, words that ushered from his heart but died once it came to his lips. His mind blanked out, gazing upon those solemn dark grey eyes, till he settled to intertwine their fingers. Mustering every courage in his fiber, Naruto mumbled. “Have a nice trip.”

A hand brushing his cheek beckoned him to kiss once again those beguiling lips, parting as Sasuke muttered. “…Thank you.” Their fingers disentangled at last, Sasuke began walking the line as he was still staring towards Naruto. He couldn’t break their gazes, Naruto’s eyes were so heartbreakingly painful that all Sasuke wanted was to reach him, hoist him by his shoulder and go wherever, consequences be damned.

But they knew that this was a folly desire. Sasuke simply settled going along with the crowd, his eyes still following Naruto’s, heartache mirroring his own. Once he arrived the customs, a wall laid in front of him. Sasuke threw one last glance, as Naruto only raised a hand with a wave of goodbye, a sad smile making his vision bright and blurry.

When they turned their backs, it was only there they let their tears fall.

\--.--.--

AN: Alriiiight⏤after this whole rollercoaster of emotions, at least I can safely say that things will get better! For sure! I think you guys should also appreciate the fact that 1-I also suffered writing this chapter and 2-they finally arrived in my city and look at what they did. Had sex all day long instead of visiting the landmarks of my city.

This chapter was a pain (like...literally) to write since I also angsted with them lmao. So I’ll really _really_ appreciate if y’all be so kindly to leave some reviews. ;)


	9. Itinerary 9

Sitting on a corridor next to a classroom, he heard the murmurs inside it as the owner was introducing the newly appointed English teacher. Since it appeared that it was going to take a while, seeing some raised hands in question through the window, he started scrolling his cellphone, checking some data in his instagram account.

His eyes instantly recognized that stunning face, penetrating eyes and cool expression, contrasting with his grinning one. His heart throbbed painfully, as he searched for an older photo just so he could see it, once again. A chuckle escaped through, wide graphite eyes flabbergasted when he kissed the pale cheek, perfectly capturing the deer in headlights face. A smile curled on his lips when he compared those two photos, noting that even though the skin was still pale, it got a considerable healthy tan in the recent photo.

Blue eyes gazed upon these photos in an indeterminate time, lost in memories and longing desire. His fingers stroked that face fondly, almost as if wishing that his beloved one would suddenly materialize in front of him out of nowhere. A knot twisted on his throat, few droplets of tears smudged the screen.

“Fuck.” He hurriedly rubbed his eyes with his arms. His hand unconsciously palmed his chest trying to grab his necklace for comfort, only to remember it was no longer there. “Fuck. Dammit.” Huffing a loud sigh, he stared the ceiling, slowing his breaths to regain some control.

He heard the door opening. “Naruto?” The owner asked. “You ready?”

“Ah⏤yeah!” Naruto focused, turning off the cellphone screen, as he joined the class.

\--.--.--

It’s not hard to find a tall, skinny Japanese man in the middle of a crowd. However, as he approached, Sasuke dearly hoped his brother wouldn’t notice the reddeness in his eyes.

“Well well well. Look what I found, if it isn’t my wayward little brother.” Itachi curled a soft smile, patting his arm as he grabbed Sasuke’s suitcase and they both walked towards the exit.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting that you’d personally pick me at the airport.” Sasuke muttered. “God, it’s so hot right now.” He winced from the sunlight, taking off his coat.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, it was actually a rather pleasant day in comparison to few days prior. “Oh I forgot, it’s winter in Brazil right.”

“Yes.” Sasuke groaned, removing another layer of cloth till he was wearing only a long sleeved shirt.

“But I thought Brazil was a tropical country.”

“Brazil is huge so there’s some cold cities, the last one I went was sufficiently cold.” Though he didn’t suffer much from the low temperatures, with a hot body warming him close. His heart clenched at the remembrance. “One of the cities I went actually snowed.” Sasuke also struggled to ignore the aching pain when he recalled that day, the soft touch on his face, Naruto’s close proximity as their lips eliminated the last gap.

Itachi silently regarded his brother and all the emotions he was attempting to hide under a mask of nonchalance. “Interesting.” He said, then noticed a pretty cobalt stone hanging on Sasuke’s chest. “Nice necklace.” He muttered.

Sasuke’s hand clenched around it, thinning his lips. “It’s a gift.”

Raising the jewel to his eye level, Sasuke gazed upon this precious stone, noting the glimmering color and all the small details. A lump was gathering on his throat as he recalled Naruto’s hand enclosing around his, and the words that touched his heart.

Sasuke swallowed dryly, unable to stop a sigh escaping through. He could feel his older brother’s inquisitive eyes onto him so he recomposed himself as best as he could for now. He didn’t want Itachi drilling with questions, at least not for now.

“We're going to your apartment so you can leave your luggage but I think we won't be able to stay for too long since father booked a restaurant on early evening.” Itachi muttered, as they buckled their seatbelts, ready to go.” I hope you're not too tired from the flight.”

Sasuke shrugged. “I'm okay.”

“Good. I’m actually excited to hear all your grand adventures, hopefully filled with craziest stories, dangerous forests and pitfalls. Well, that’s the least you could do considering that I had to calm mom every time she was fussing over you.”

“Don't worry, I have plenty enough. I've taken so many photos that I ended up using 4 whole memory cards, each with 64 Gb.” Sasuke assured.

“That sounds great. Any particular experience that you enjoyed the most?”

He observed mildly amused that his younger brother froze from his nonchalant question, fingers unconsciously brushing the aquamarine stone.

Itachi supplied further. “You know, any cool photo you can show me now, just to quench a little bit of my curiosity, that would be really nice.”

Sasuke blinked in stupor, before settling with another shrug. “I think I have some, but I’m sure you’ll be fine waiting few more hours till I show it all to everyone.”

“It’s not nice to tease your big brother.”

“Hn.”

Although Sasuke was mildly apprehensive meeting his parents after such long time, he was enveloped by a tight hug from his mother that took him off guard. He honestly didn’t remember the last time his mother hugged him. His father didn’t appear to be too judgemental in his side too, as he patted his arm, squeezing a little while they all went inside the restaurant.

Considering that this time he was the one bringing the news as all eyes and ears from his family were focused onto him, Sasuke was the one who did most of the talking throughout the dinner, telling all stories he went through his trip. Occasionally, his mother would exclaim intrigued, his brother would ask some questions here and there, but no one interrupted him.

And even if Sasuke was starting to feel some drowsiness caused by the long flight home, he managed to find some more energy when his family were staring all impressed the photos and videos shown in his large TV screen. He continued his narration showing all the grand waterfalls and wild animals, detailing the different cultures and climates, in between sips of wine and some curious inquiries.

Sasuke carefully left Naruto out of this conversation though. Their last meeting still stung in his heart, images of his pained blue eyes continued to overflow his memories. He wouldn’t be able to talk about this to his family, not while it felt too raw for him to properly face it.

Nevertheless, the evening ended with a pleasant note, Itachi and his mother went to the kitchen to wash the cups, as she beamed once Itachi helped her use one of Sasuke’s photos as her new wallpaper on her cellphone.

With his father looking at his photos, Sasuke shuffled from his seat, undecided what he should do to break the silence. Fugaku muttered instead.

“Well, it does look like you enjoyed this trip in the end.”

Sasuke stiffened from his father’s unflappable tone, then straightened up. “Yes, it was very worthwhile.”

“Hm.” Fugaku continued to browse through his photos. “You know, after the first shock and your mother panicking, I thought it was a very irresponsible and impulsive decision you had made. But then, Itachi sent some of your photos to us and it really got your mother excited. Imagining you walking through those places your photographed, savoring the time you spent visiting these different cultures.”

Listening to his father’s words, Sasuke couldn’t think of any retort, so he only hummed in response, staring his beer.

Fugaku said. “I think you got the genes from your mother, she’s the adventurous one. Back when we just got married, we started making promises and plans to travel across the world together. I’m not into exploring unknown places but I thought well...with an ideal partner, it’ll always make this experiences worthwhile right? But in the end your mother started putting these ideas aside for my sake, and then for our family’s sake.”

Sasuke snorted. “Well, it must be tough for her, since she had to raise Itachi after all.”

“You gave us quite a handful problems too young man.” Fugaku smirked.

“Nonsense, I was a saint in comparison to Itachi.”

Fugaku shook his head, smiling. “Perhaps. But those recent months were quite erratic for us because of you, for sure. And now that I'm seeing your photos, knowing that you were having fun...it quite gave us a different perspective to look upon. We always justified that we couldn’t go on a trip because of work, or poor timing, anything like it. But time is passing and it really wouldn’t be fair for your mother not to fulfill one of her dreams too, now that we’re getting older and older. And seeing you doing something that we couldn’t well...maybe we should cherish our lives better I guess.”

Sasuke felt his chest expand, breaths coming out easier as he gazed his father that was still busy looking his photos. Young or old, foolish or wise, humans all thrived to find a meaning in their lives and his parents were no exception. Sasuke said nonchalantly. “I heard that Peru is quite an interesting country. Machu Picchu is a sight to behold as many other touristic attractions, plus it’s not very expensive to visit there too.”

Fugaku chuckled. “Calm down, we’re not as young like you to visit some place that it’s on the other side of the planet. For now we plan to visit Russia. We already booked the tickets too.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

Sasuke noticed his mother and Itachi coming back as she beamed widely.

“So Sasuke, you ready to return to work or are you dreading that your vacation is finally over? Are you restarting tomorrow?”

“Oh.” Sasuke briefly glanced back to Fugaku before declaring. “They fired me while I was on this trip.”

“What?” Itachi frowned.

His father considered the information, before muttering. “It’s not legal to fire while you’re on vacation, right?”

“You’re right, it’s not.” Sasuke nodded.

“You seem...calm overall.”

“I guess. I had plenty of time to think about it, and it doesn’t bother me much. I can find another job if I want.” Sasuke shrugged.

Tensing staring his father’s calculating expression, Sasuke readied himself to hear Fugaku’s chastising, considering that he previously warned this outcome back when Sasuke decided to go to Brazil.

His father however, only settled to shake his head, holding his mother’s hand. “It’s your decision Sasuke, so I should trust that you made the right choice. This trip was a once in a lifetime thing, and I doubt you’ll ever come to regret this. You’ll do fine I hope.”

His mother smiled too. “Don’t worry Sasuke, if anything bad really happens, you can count on us. We’re here to help you.”

Sasuke wordlessly nodded, sighing relieved. “Thanks.”

\--.--.--.--

Sasuke’s parents hung around few more minutes talking about Sasuke’s previous job and the legal actions they could take accordingly. Since it was getting really late, they soon left with Sasuke promising he’d share some of his favorite photos with his family.

Closing the door with a large yawn, Sasuke stretched his arms, mulling if he’ll take too long to unpack his luggage. He noticed though that his older brother was still around, rummaging his refrigerator.

Itachi smiled, turning around and offered a beer can to his younger brother. “So?”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, opening the cap. “What?”

“Who is the charming man that managed to thaw my little brother’s icy heart and when will we be able to meet him?”

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sasuke muttered, gulping the beverage.

For a moment, Itachi considered pointing out the obvious, that when he wasn't talking about his trip, Sasuke was sighing all evening, holding his necklace with his head on the clouds. But since he knew his little brother's stubbornness very well, Itachi didn't bother beating around the bush.

“Well…” Itachi declared in feigned disinterest. “I couldn’t help but notice that there’s some blond man appearing in your photos here and there on the course of your trip. And in different states too. You were very careful, showing photos where he’s in some corner most times, but I could recognize him. Mom probably noticed too, but I’m sure she thought it wouldn’t be nice to drill you right away. Also, I could see in her eyes before she was gone that she’s expecting me to do this job, so here I am. Asking about it so I can report to mom afterwards.”

Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes. Figuring that there was no point delaying any further he muttered. “When I went to Brazil, I met an Italian guy. His name is Naruto and we...got involved. In every possible way.”

Itachi raised an elegant eyebrow, sipping his beer.

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask for any sordid details yet.” Sasuke grumbled.

“Unless I want to scrub my brain with metal barb to erase all the possible traumatic pictures it might arise knowing about your sex life little brother, then I guess no...I’d rather skip that part.” Itachi murmured humorously. “I can assume that your eyes, that were swollen from all the crying was also caused by him.”

Sasuke scowled, trust Itachi to always be so fucking observant. He gulped down a beer, growling. “Yeah.”

“And I can also assume that he didn't do anything astronomically bad to make you cry because or else I'd actually see you pissed and relieved you got rid of him⏤”

“No, Naruto would never do that.” Sasuke hastened to defend him. He mumbled quietly, staring his beer. “He's special.”

Itachi studied Sasuke’s downcast expression, the soft exhale escaping through his lips. Now he really wanted to meet this person, for having the rare prowess in destabilizing his brother this much.

“Yes, I can see that, because, instead, you're making mooning faces and missing him now.” Itachi sighed beaming, flinging an imaginary tear off his face. “My little brother has finally fallen in love with someone, I'm so proud.”

Sasuke gulped down moodily, growling a curse under his breath.

“So how did this all happened? Were you looking for someone with this kind of objective or⏤”

“No, nowhere like it. It was just a coincidence.” Sasuke huffed, remembering the first time he met Naruto. “On the first city I went in Brazil all the hotels were full, so I couldn’t find a place to stay. He offered to share his room while I was in one of the hostel. Then I thought it’d be nice if we could travel together and share the expenses...and things have escalated then.” He muttered to himself.

Sipping his beverage, Itachi absorbed this information as his brother sighed for the upteempth time. “I see. Well, it doesn’t sound that bad right? He’s from Italy so there’s still a chance he can visit you once he goes back to his home country and⏤”

“Naruto hasn’t returned to Italy for more than five years or so. Six years actually, if I’m not mistaken.” When Sasuke met Itachi’s confused eyes, he added. “Naruto travels around the world as a form of living. He’s an instagram influencer with all sorts of sponsors but he also told me that he does some part-time jobs when money is tight. Basically he hops from country to country.”

“Interesting.” Itachi whipped out his cellphone and started to browse. “You said his name is Naruto right? N-A-R-U-T-O?”

“Yes, but⏤ you’re not actually going to look for his insta⏤” Sasuke stood up, his arms raised in attempt to reach his older brother’s gadget and stop this nonsense. Itachi dodged with ease though, now staring the photos with a winsome beam.

“Oh wow, it wasn’t that difficult to find him, he’s quite famous Sasuke!” Itachi exclaimed. “And handsome too, now I understand your whole fascination over him. Oh little brother, you can be a disaster in many things but if there’s something you’d never fail is your good taste in men.”

Sasuke rubbed his eyelids with his hand. “You’re bluffing, there’s no way you’ll be able to find Naruto so eas⏤” He stared the obvious photo of sun-kissed face, wide grin and vivid blue eyes displayed on Itachi’s cellphone screen and groaned. “Don’t you dare follow him, I’ll kill you if you do.”

“Relax, he’s not my type.” Itachi smiled, shutting off his cellphone. “But still, he could visit you. Unless you didn’t leave your door open to this possibility.”

“I _did_.” Sasuke assured. Then, he grimaced. “Actually, it’s complicated.”

“Hm, I get the feeling that I’m getting close as to why you’ve been bawling over him before you arrived in France.” Itachi drank his beer thoughtfully.

Sasuke growled. “I wasn’t bawling⏤ anyways. Yes, we kind of⏤ what happened didn’t go with what we expected. At first we agreed to keep it casual between us but as we continued to travel together I⏤ “ Sasuke exhaled loudly, trying to keep his feelings at bay. “Like I’ve said, we got involved.”

“Well, considering how difficult you can be, the fact that you two spent a whole month without getting on each other’s throat, you must have found some kind of connection with him.”

“Yes. I really enjoyed traveling with him, you know?” Sasuke confessed. “At first we had some disagreements but it’s so easy to be with him, exploring together. And all the talks we had too, God...I couldn’t get tired chatting with him, we had so many topics in common too. He's really smart, funny, even if he enjoys little bit too much doing pranks, and well…” He blushed mildly, grumbling. “I can’t complain about other departments too.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow, judging Sasuke’s sudden silence as his mind went on a detour, reminiscing once again. The older Uchiha concluded. “So what you had with him clearly went way beyond than ‘just sex.’”

Sasuke tightened his hold on the metallic can, nodding slowly.

“I hope your feelings were reciprocated? Or Naruto wanted to keep it casual instead?”

Sasuke sighed, and Itachi understood that he finally hit a raw nerve. “Naruto reciprocated but⏤ we also kept delaying recognizing our feelings. Before we could realize, it was already too late and we didn’t talk it through. We had huge fight on the last day and...well, at least forced us to face what we had together. But we didn’t solve anything so Naruto just sent me off, like that.”

“But just the fact that you two wanted something more helps in your favor right? I mean, you could convince him to visit you and maybe⏤ “

Sasuke exhaled a tired breath. “Well…There's this thing. The entire trip I kept considering asking Naruto to spend some time with me once I was back in France. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. My lifestyle⏤" Sasuke gulped, thinning his lips. "⏤is not fit to someone like him. Naruto was supposed to go to all kinds of countries, explore grand new sights, meet different cultures and people. I'm used to have a steady job, a fixed place, a boring routine. There's no way I can chain Naruto down, just because I wanted him.”

"I guess your situation looks really difficult when your lives are so different from one to another."

"Yes..." His fingers slid the chord of his necklace, seizing the cerulean jewel. “But on our last day, well, I...I wasn't thinking straight. So I actually asked for him to come live with me, he declined talking that he wasn't supposed to burden me, unemployment, costs and everything. Anyways, in the end, I knew that this wasn't right, it wouldn't be fair for him to give up his freedom for my sake.”

Sensing the impending end, Itachi murmured. “And then?”

Sasuke shrugged one shoulder, albeit stiffly. “Then he tried to do the same with me, asking me to drop everything and go traveling with him. However, he also realized that it’s not really something I’d get used to and gave up insisting on it.”

Itachi hummed in response, his fingers tapping on the empty can as he considered this info. He smiled. “I see. So the feelings you have for each other run so deep that you both relinquished your own desires so you wouldn’t damage the other.”

Sasuke opened and closed his mouth, absorbing his older brother’s words. “Does it matter? It’s over now.” He said, his voice crestfallen.

Itachi snorted softly, standing up as he grabbed another can of beer. “Well, this only shows how you’re still too young to understand magnitude of life. When those emotions you have for each other are so strong, it’ll always find a way bond him together with you.”

A flicker of hope emanated, warming his chest once he heard his older brother’s assurance. Still, Sasuke had to tease. “Itachi, you’re only four years older than me.”

“Hn.”

\--.--.--

Despite all protests, Itachi chose to stretch his visit just to annoy Sasuke a little bit more. As he looked Naruto's instagram photos, he kept declaring all about not wasting chances and seize the opportunity before it was too late. Sasuke practically booted him outside the door from all the unnecessary nagging, rolling his eyes after his older brother gave one last warning, exiting his house.

Now with his energy all depleted, Sasuke took a long, relaxing shower, letting the droplets of water massage his tense shoulders as he soaped his body. Once he put his pajamas, he wholly welcomed his soft bed and satiny sheets, though for some reason he still struggled getting ready to his slumber. He saw his jeans on the other corner so with a grunt, he picked it up ready to fling far away.

When he raised his pants, Sasuke felt an extra weight, so he paused knowing that his cellphone was in one of the pockets. He grabbed it, noticing that it was still in airplane mode so he turned it off, just to check any new message.

His ears were blasted with a continuous onslaught of loud pings coming from the Messenger.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Sasuke fumbled to open his notification, noticing 20 unread messages coming from Naruto.

He began to read, a smile curling on his lips:

_Hey, I bet you’re already in France by now right? Poke me just to show that you’re alive k_

_I hope you’re ok send me a msg when you can_

_Bastard are you around?_

_Sasuke?_

_I’m getting worried you ass send me anything lol_

_Hey_

_Hey_

_Heeeeeeey_

_Sasukeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy_

_I’m getting worried sick you bastard!!!_

_C’moooooooonnnnnn anything will doooooooooo_

_Sasuke????????_

_Honest to God I’m hyperventilating Imma kill you man_

Then there was an onslaught of missed calls every ten minutes registered in his chat.

Chuckling to himself, Sasuke wasted no time to call his beloved dumbass. He only needed to ring the phone twice until he heard a snarl. “I’m not kidding that I’m going to kill you for making me get worried sick, asshole.”

Sasuke smirked. “Your violent displays of affection are duly noted.”

He heard a snort in response.

“Sorry, I forgot to turn off the airplane mode and my family were waiting for me when I arrived.” Sasuke explained, moving back to his living room and sprawling comfortably on the edge of his sofa. “They stayed for a while, we ate dinner and they just left now.”

“Oh. Oh well…” Sasuke heard Naruto walking around, hand already scratching the back of his blond head. This thought made him smile fondly. “So did you show your photos? Did they like it?”

“Yes, my mother was particularly impressed with the photos in Amazon. My brother was amused with Gramado’s ones though.”

“He probably got the same sarcastic sense of humor just like yours, it runs with the genes.”

“Hn.”

“And how was your flight too? All went smoothly?”

Sasuke rubbed his shoulders, tilting his neck in each side. “Cramped. Took way too fucking long.”

“Errr...that’s all? No nagging neighbors or crying babies?”

One side of his lips curled to a sardonic smile as Sasuke muttered. “I wouldn’t know. I was too busy mourning for your loss to really remember what happened on the airplane.”

Naruto snorted again. “Hm...you poor baby. Need me to go there and cuddle you better?”

Sasuke inhaled, his fingers playing with the strings of his sweatpants. “You know you can whenever you want to.” He whispered.

There was a silence on the receiver until Naruto uttered with his voice gruff. “Yeah, I know. And I will. Soon.”

Sasuke attempted really hard to stomp the little butterflies fluttering in his stomach, grunting in response.

"Hey.” Naruto’s call focused his attention on the serious tone. “Heey. I said I'm going to see you again and I mean it. We'll travel together once again, that's a promise." Naruto chuckled and just this cheerful sound made Sasuke’s head lighter. "I'll chase you to the end of the Earth if I have to."

“So instead I should get worried with the possibility that you’ll nag me wherever I go?” Sasuke teased back.

“Yeah, you don’t have any choice on this matter.” Naruto mumbled, relief washing his body as he relaxed, leaning on the wall.

“Too bad for now, I’ll only have to settle discussing with my annoying ex-employers.”

Naruto grimaced in commiseration. “Gonna talk to them soon?”

“I guess, I didn’t really schedule anything with them yet, but I just want to get this over with, however unpleasant it might be.” Sasuke grumbled. “My parents were actually fine with what happened though.”

“What? You told them?” Naruto blurted out astonished.

“My mother asked and I thought that there was no point delaying the news. They took it...pretty well.”

“That’s great! I’m glad they were understanding. I guess this trip changed us all, some way or another.”

“Hm, I guess.”

“Oh.” Naruto’s stomach growled, noting that it was almost time to dinner. He said, looking at his wristwatch. “Wait, what time is it now on your side? ‘Cuz it’s 8 pm for me now.”

Sasuke blinked, retracted his phone a bit to look at the time. “1 am for me.” He responded.

“What?!” Sasuke frowned from the sudden scream. “You should be sleeping right now!” Naruto said.

“I’m not that tired.”

“That’s ‘cuz your body is still used to Brazil’s time zone, but you have to sleep right now so you can adapt to the new biological clock. So get to bed right now.”

Sasuke snorted. “I’m unemployed right now, I don’t need to get worried with waking up on time.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m talking that it’s better you change back to your current time zone as soon as you can or you’ll get drowsy, irregular sleeping time and all. Alright, I’m finishing this conversation right now so you can just go.”

Sasuke grunted, knitting his eyebrows.

Almost as if he was reading Sasuke’s mind, Naruto assured him. “I’ll call you on the morning, don’t worry about it. I’m going to pester you so much that you’ll block me from this chat.”

Sasuke closed his eyes, heart releasing any remaining tenseness from his body as tendrils of sleep had finally arrived, after being held off for so long. “I’m looking forward to this then.” He yawned.

Naruto laughed. “Goodnight Sasuke.”

\--.--.--

His hips were moving to the cadence of his moans, bed creaking as he thrust continuously into that hot tightness. His tongue savored the salty taste on the tanned chest, moving upwards to gaze upon the hazy blue eyes and grinning lips. This face soon changed to a lustful one as he increased the pace, uttering his name in bliss. His cock was driving harder and deeper, sensing legs tightening around his waist as their bodies were pressed close together, mouths sliding into a drugging kiss.

Sasuke somehow knew that this was nothing but a dream, because Naruto felt so ethereal, some senses were so incomplete, the emotional connection wasn't as visceral to overwhelm him completely. And yet he craved to indulge this a little longer, diving in this pleasurable memories as he was spurred from Naruto's gasps. Two hands linked behind his nape, lips brushing so tenderly, fast pants fanning his face as Naruto moaned.

“Sasuke… “

He shut his eyes, cock thrusting faster and faster…

…Blinking awake, his whole vision was tilted in a different angle, staring at the ceiling. His loud groan echoed in his bedroom, so he turned around in search...only finding an empty space, not Naruto's usual warm body.

Sasuke huffed, brain throbbing and his cock aching in frustration. He couldn't swallow this sudden emptiness expanding his heart, fingers clenching on the bed sheets like he was expecting Naruto to appear out of nowhere.

Trying to slow his rapid heartbeats, Sasuke palmed around, grasping his cellphone to check the hour. 4 am. Fuck.

He shifted around with a loud sigh, his hard-on hindering him, demanding for some release. Sasuke considered a cold shower, which wasn't a bad idea since tonight was so hot. Maybe he should just return to sleep, it's fucking 4 of early morning and he really needed some rest.

His traitorous mind though, supplied more images of Naruto undulating his hips, hands clutching his buttocks to bring him closer, darkened blue eyes fluttering close as⏤

Sasuke groaned, hand slithered in his pants and stroking his engorged manhood.

He managed to sleep for few more hours after that, waking up late enough to settle with a brunch. His luggage laid in the hall, conspicuously taking space in his rather humble sized apartment. Therefore, he began unpacking all, while chatting with Naruto once the blond man called him.

Grunting with satisfaction when he finished this task, Sasuke took a longer time to put all his souvenirs decorating on the living room, gazing and reminiscing each piece he bought. He admired the jade colored bottle of cachaça, calling Itachi to sip some of it, though already forewarning that he wouldn't share if his older brother kept pestering about Naruto. Itachi complied for once, even if he kept making veiled comments here and there.

A day had passed in a blink, making Sasuke feel once again time slipping out of his control. He brushed those thoughts aside, knowing that those hours were definitely spent in his own accordance. Throwing himself on the bed, his dreams were now filled with past trips with Naruto and how his azure eyes shined while they were talking till sun would settle down.

On the next day though, he went to the company he used to work. It was still a rather unique situation walking through a place he no longer belonged despite knowing it like the back of his hand. Sasuke greeted his old colleagues, some offered assistance, others noticed that he got a little bit of a tan. They all promised to meet him in a bar and let him talk about his experiences in Brazil, which was something that Sasuke was rather looking forward to.

"Whoa, a wild Sasuke appears." Suigetsu exclaimed when he stumbled upon Sasuke on the way to the meeting room. "Hey, cool necklace! So that's it huh? You disappear for a month, go to some cool country and reinvent yourself once you're back. Maybe I should do this vacation too then."

"Maybe you should." Sasuke smirked. "If you're willing to be fired on the course of your vacation too."

"Yeah, and that's the part where we're different my friend." Suigetsu patted his back. They both sensed their boss' eyes peered onto him so Suigetsu smiled sheepishly. "Good luck."

Sasuke nodded back as he and his former superior sat on the conference table. He waited, listening to the droning voice reciting all his rights, penances and some of the money he would get out of it.

"There's also the fact you all fired me without previous notice while I was on vacation." Sasuke interrupted impatiently.

His former boss straightened up, muttering. "Well, you disappeared before we could establish a proper date of your vacation and⏤ "

"We can take this in court if you want to, it'd be an interesting spectacle." Sasuke replied, eyes narrowed in a icy glare.

The other man froze, clenching his mouth as he rubbed his hands on the table. Sasuke had to commend from the fact that his former employer maintained a neutral face instead of cowering under the table.

He sighed then, sipping his coffee. "However, I don't see the point in wasting my life with this pointless squabble. I'm willing to compromise for the benefit of all."

His words must have caught his former boss by surprise, because his eyes were wide like dinner plates, before he recomposed himself, primming on his seat. "Alright. Let me hear your terms then."

"Aside my usual bonus, I just want four months of salary with 15% of increase. Nothing else."

The older man relaxed considerably, since what Sasuke requested was rather reasonable.

Sasuke smirked inwardly and leaned forward. "And also a personal request. I'll send you my resumé and then you'll send to every company you know. And then, you'll personally call your friends in each of these companies to recommend my work, 6 calls each day. It has to be you. Not your assistant, not your secretary, only you. I'll send a schedule with the name of the companies matching with each day you're going to call."

The other man frowned, displeased. "I'm busy, I can't do this much everyday."

Sasuke muttered unflappable. "I'm sure you'll be able to reach the best decision you're most comfortable with. Just tell me whatever you'll do tomorrow."

Sasuke then saw the calculating expression on his former boss' face, as he weighed the pros and cons. He relented at last, muttering. "Send me the list and your resumé as soon as you can."

Sasuke stood up, raising his arm for a handshake. "Thank you."

He glanced the offered hand for a moment, before he accepted this gesture, shaking it firmly. "Likewise."

"I should get going then." Sasuke walked to the door, respectfully letting the older man to walk by as they sauntered back to the entrance of the company.

While waiting for the elevator to arrive, he received one last comment from his ex-boss. “I feel that this trip has changed you, for the better. It's too bad we don't have enough budget, or else I'd seriously consider re-hiring you.”

Sasuke studied his thoughtful eyes, before responding with a smirk. “I'm really flattered, but I'm afraid I'd refuse your offer nevertheless. Like you've said, this trip changed me.”

Thus, the next few days were spent with job hunting. Or rather, have his days filled with visiting several companies and endless interviews.

Because of his former employer’s help, Sasuke received a good number of offers, large rooms with its attractive slick design. He stared with a mild distaste, following the secretary for another interview. Often times he’d send info of these companies to Naruto for a second opinion, also revealing all the dirty secrets it lied behind as they always agreed together that it’d be better if he refused it.

In Sasuke’s opinion, all these large corporations made the same kind of promises. A high salary, the potential to become part of board of directors, endless, endless hours cooping inside the office all day and night. Sasuke had already passed beyond this phase, he wasn’t fit to this kind of unhealthy lifestyle.

The news regarding his availability spread quickly within the work community he was part of, so Sasuke waited till he’d find something that would fit better with his ideals.

After days almost exhausting most his options, he wound up sitting in the waiting room in a modest space with minimalist decoration.

The owner of this place looked apprehensive reading his resumé, placing the piece of paper on the table.

“Honestly, your curriculum is really impressive. All the companies you worked, your accomplishments...I’m afraid what I’ll offer won’t be as much as you would be expecting.”

“That’s really okay, I’m not interested working in your company mainly for the salary. I feel that I’m more in tune with your work ethic so I’m looking forward to hear your proposition.”

“Very well.” She straightened on her seat as she described. “As we’ve talked before, this company is still young in comparison to others in our expertise area, but we’ve thrived so far. My associate and I want to build a healthier work environment, so we can make all our employees engaged to help us out. You’ll work 6 hours per day, not obligated to stay in our office all day, everyday. Though at least once per week we’ll want to see your reports, and maybe we’ll request your presence if you need to meet one of our clients.”

“I’ve heard that you also accept pro bono clients, right?” Sasuke asked.

She nodded. “If you’d like, you can handpick some or even suggest anyone of your interest. Of course, we don’t have enough structure to pick a lot of cases, so we’ll only do occasionally.”

“That sounds fair.”

“Well...overall, we plan to pay you around 8000 euros monthly, is this offer acceptable to you?”

Sasuke grimaced internally, mulling his overall expenses with this income. Yet, he answered. “It’s quite acceptable. Actually, I have another proposition to make.” He cleared his throat. “Before I terminated my contract with the previous company I worked, I had to sign a non-compete clause, so I can’t reach some of my previous clients too.”

“That’s quite unfortunate.” She responded.

“That may be so, but since I took care in specific areas such as food industry and hotel chains, I can offer my services to my former clients’ competitors instead. If I bring you at least three clients in the span of three months, would you consider what I wish to have instead?”

She raised an eyebrow for his bold proposal and leaned curious. “And what would that be?”

Sasuke smirked.

Half an hour passed after long conversations and more negotiations, Sasuke exited the building, stretching his body. He automatically pressed the button to the first person he wanted to give the news.

“Hey Sasuke!” Naruto’s boisterous voice boomed on the receiver. “So, how was your interview?”

“I got the job.”

“Whoa, you got the job?!” Naruto shouted impressed. “Seriously? This fast?”

“Yes.”

“Congratulations! I hope your new workplace will be great! Yeah...it’s really great…”

Sasuke noticed how Naruto’s tone was deflating, so he asked. “Something wrong?”

“Huh?” Naruto muttered. “No, nothing, I’m really happy for you, I’m serious. It’s just that⏤” He huffed loudly, groaning. “I miss you, you know?”

Sasuke froze from this sudden confession. His heart pulsed, warmth expanding his chest and reaching his entire core. He croaked out. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. And you’re...well, you’re doing so fine, already got a brand new job, without even having to lift a finger, really. Turned on a new leaf and I’m still like…” Sasuke heard a sigh. “It’s frustrating. I’m still stuck, unlike you.”

Sasuke fell silent, absorbing his words and connecting the dots. He mumbled. “You’re not being left behind Naruto, I’m just returning to my usual life with improvements, that’s all. I miss you too.”

This time he waited Naruto to take in his answer, as he replied. “Yeah well...after all, you’re not going to get rid of me so easily. I’m going to keep on with my promise.”

“Good.” Sasuke curled his lips upwards. “I can’t wait for this to happen then.”

\--.--.--

In his new workplace, Sasuke had adapted amazingly well. His clients weren’t the usual multinational, huge corporations like before, so their attitude differed from what he expected in a positive way. Plus, the fact that he didn’t have to stay all the time in the office gave him plenty time to dedicate on his personal projects.

His monthly wage though was considerably lower than his previous one, so Sasuke learned to be frugal in his life expenses. He already didn’t spend his money frivolously but he began cutting extra indulgences since he planned for more. Mainly about more trips in the near future.

As he was stabilizing himself, weeks have passed. As cliché as it'd sound, life moves on.

Much to their mutual surprises, most aspects of their relationship hadn't changed much. Sure, they had now differences of timezones and the physical distance, but they maintained chatting constantly through Messenger.

This also meant they had a little of adapting process. Naruto would get used to his working routine as Sasuke now faced Naruto’s hectic traveling schedule from an outside perspective.

Though even considering this initial step back, Sasuke was amazed how Naruto still managed to become a constant fixture in his life. Honestly, he felt closer to Naruto after the trip. While in Brazil, they were too busy in their adventures and having sex, even though they supplied enough backstory about each other. However now that they were back to their usual environment, Sasuke shared his daily struggles with Naruto and vice-versa, as Naruto comprehended more facets of himself that weren’t shown before.

Sasuke always considered that his life was pretty ordinary, but somehow Naruto was genuinely engaged, wanting to know more. From incidents regarding some of his clients to little things like his lunch or TV series he was watching.

Without the constant physical proximity though, it also helped to cool their heads down. Sasuke had to admit that his late actions around Naruto were impulsive decisions made out of desperation, looking back he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t regret it in the long run. He was grateful that Naruto stopped him in time.

And now without the urgency spurring his anxiety, he could make a thorough analysis how much their relationship was laced with passion and novelty from that time. His heart was pleasantly comforted that there wasn’t much mixed within.

He still wanted Naruto, even after a whole month since their last day together. If anything, his longing only grew day by day.

Their emotional proximity was replenished all the time, but it wasn’t enough. Sasuke missed Naruto’s physical closeness, the temperature of his body, his soft lips, the texture of his tanned skin. Waking up sexually frustrated was a hassle for sure, however, Sasuke craved for Naruto’s candid intimacy the most.

And though they maintained constant contact, they shifted to an odd platonic phase. All the sexual innuendo or the sly flirting has dimmed down considerably. It was almost like one was waiting the other one to move. And admittedly, Sasuke has been a little gun shy since he returned to France, hoping that the blond man, who was always more spontaneous of the duo, would make his move.

Troubled with this anomalous situation, Sasuke stared how their relationship got stuck in limbo. He only needed the exact words to seal the deal, make cogs of time move again...but somehow he was still unable to. He wondered why.

\--.--.--

In the comfort of his house, sitting in his sofa, Sasuke watched once again Naruto’s latest video sent to him. There was a mild sting of envy Naruto showing new places he was visiting, though he had concede that the trip to Brazil was tiring enough.

Unsatisfied with the lack of Naruto’s appearance in the videos, since most either had Naruto precariously holding the camera on selfie mode or he was behind it all, Sasuke wondered if he’d see more of Naruto’s face in his instagram. Also, he’s been holding for too long, but he actually wanted to examine if Naruto was fairly popular in that social media.

Curiosity piqued, Sasuke went to Naruto’s Facebook profile, finding a link to his Instagram account. He grunted mildly impressed with the amount of followers Naruto had, mulling how many of them are mostly following for his attractive physique rather than his content. Brushing those thoughts aside, Sasuke began scrolling down, smiling fondly towards Naruto’s wide grin.

This smile instantly disappeared to a frown when he zeroed onto a photo portraying two faces. One black-haired guy was standing way too close to Naruto, his pale cheek touching the tanned one, wearing a wide beam that was bordering to a smug one. Naruto didn’t appear to be uncomfortable with the close proximity however, only slightly exasperated and annoyed.

Clicking on the photo, Sasuke read the description:

_So on the way to Argentina I met @Sai_paintingdreams and we’re going to explore together this country. For some reason this fella is way too interested into knowing about the size of my...anyways. Should I get worried about this? Only time can tell. Wish me luck._

What might have aggravated this situation were the sly remarks coming from Naruto’s followers, jealousy biting in his stomach as Sasuke read people asking if this man was Naruto’s new boyfriend, some talking how they look good together as well as many sexual innuendos.

Sasuke took a sharp inhale of breath, calming down his thunderous heartbeats. He’s not going to let his insecurities get the best of him. Sasuke trusted Naruto, he wouldn’t do something like that. But...a poisonous part of his heart whispered, even if Naruto did get involved with this man, since when Sasuke would have any sort of right to say in that matter?

Sasuke pressed this man’s profile, now scrolling annoyed the amount of glimpses of that familiar golden hair all peppered through his timeline. No, he wasn’t some sick stalker, staring in meticulous detail all the proximity of the photos, analyzing if Naruto’s grins were as wide as he gave while he was traveling with Sasuke. He wasn’t behaving like an overzealous boyfriend, he was...apprehensive, that’s all. He wondered why Naruto hadn’t mention this man yet, but it appeared that they only met yesterday so far.

After long, long hours reading almost the entire timeline regarding this man, Sasuke threw his cellphone to the side with aggravated sigh. Fingers itched to call the blond man and drill with some questions, Sasuke held those urges nevertheless.

Almost as if Naruto was reading his mind, Sasuke heard the notification for some Facetime he gladly agreed, dark thoughts pushed aside once he saw Naruto’s grinning face.

“Hey! How was your day? Just back from work?”

“It was fine and yes, I just finished my dinner.”

“Cool! I wanted you to be the first person to show that I’m in Bariloche now!” Naruto turned his cellphone around, showing some tall mountains covered with snow. He twisted back to show his face and muttered. “It’s so fucking cold right now, I figured that this definitely a place you’d love to visit.”

“I’m astonished how you haven’t turned into human popsicle yet.” Sasuke responded.

“Ass.” Naruto said without any real bite. “I’m glad I have enough money from my last part-time job, but God knows how much it’ll last in this trip.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, in any case, I can help you organizing your expenses again.”

“That will help me a lot, thanks. Oh. Oh yeah!” Naruto raised his voice recalling for something. “Talking about money, I met a guy in Argentina, we’re traveling together so we can split the fares. His name is Sai, and man...he’s a bit of a weirdo.”

His whole body tensed, though Sasuke hummed in apparent nonchalance, knowing that if he opened his mouth he wouldn’t be able to hide his anxiety.

“He said he’s an artist and that’s why he’s kinda obsessed with my dick...I swear to God sometimes I think he’s following me around just so he can take a peek.”

“Should I worry over your chastity being in danger then?”

Naruto chortled. “You know damn well that my whole chastity thing was thrown to the dumps long time ago.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I think you checked pretty well that I have none of it.”

“I guess I’m proud that I made a very thorough inspection.” Sasuke noticed a frown coming from behind and he instantly recognized Sai. His lips twitched to a smirk, however, Sasuke maintained his collected facade. “Oh, is that Sai you were talking about?”

“Hm?” Naruto turned around and waved his hand to that man. “Yeah, that’s him. Hey Sai! That’s Sasuke, say hi to him.”

Sai widened a restrained smile, though still waved meekly back. He spoke. “Naruto, we should check-in the hostel.”

“Ok, sure.” Naruto nodded back, then turned his attention back to Sasuke. “Well, gotta go, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Naruto.” Sasuke called, blue eyes blinked from sudden somber tone. “Maybe you should be careful around this Sai, jokes aside.” Sasuke hoped that Naruto wouldn’t detect his jealousy sipping through this phrase.

Naruto did a double-take, before rolling his eyes with a short laugh. “What? No way. C’mon Sasuke, I doubt he’s anywhere into me.”

Sasuke snorted, though refrained any further comment. It’s unbelievable how Naruto was so oblivious, that man was practically undressing him with his eyes. The blond man didn’t look anywhere interested back on the other hand, so this was enough to calm Sasuke down.

When Naruto turned his cellphone off, Sasuke frowned, pensive.

He knew he had not right this surge of possessiveness, he understood this, logically. That’s why he really should stop this urge to book the fastest trip to Argentina and beat the crap out of that son of a bitch Sai.

He and Naruto weren’t official in anything, since their situation was currently lukewarm. Sasuke comprehended that the miles of distance made him unable to physically satisfy Naruto, which was one of the reasons why he couldn’t stake his claim for now. It wouldn’t be fair.

He get it, if Naruto needed someone for some physical release. He get it, even though he himself was completely indifferent towards any man since his return to France. It seems that he lost any semblance of physical attraction towards anyone that wasn’t Naruto. And if, by some rare chance he’d see someone who was fairly handsome, Sasuke would end up comparing to Naruto, how the hair locks weren’t gold enough, or his blue eyes weren’t vivacious much.

He might have fallen in this predicament, but there was no telling Naruto wouldn’t do the same for him. Sasuke still remembered his confession in his last day in Brazil, it still rang true...but humans can easily fail, right? Was Naruto going to be an exception?

Shutting his eyelids, Sasuke slowed his breaths holding his necklace, placing the cerulean stone to his lips. The cold surface had a calming effect on him, as he went to sleep.

On the following days, Sasuke continued to follow Sai’s latest feed like some crazy masochist. He really couldn’t explain such irrational behavior, especially since it’d raise his temper every. Single. Time. For once at least though, Sasuke could see shots of Naruto’s face since it seems that Sai chose him as his main subject, but any happiness seeing the blond man was swallowed by the rage he’d feel sensing how close Sai was recording Naruto.

Naruto still called him every day which mollified him a little bit, smirking victoriously whenever Sai was stepped aside, all blue eyes were focused on him. Naruto informed him that Sai was tagging along for one week, and Sasuke couldn’t wait for this shitty ass to be long gone soon enough.

\--.--.--

Naruto scratched his head, sometimes unable to comprehend Sasuke’s shift of mood. One week ago, he could swear Sasuke was shooting lasers with his glare, trying to fill in the most information he could get about Naruto’s itinerary. As time passed by, he was getting less abrasive and...dared he say, giddy for some reason as Naruto was getting close to finish his trip in Argentina.

Tonight was the last day he’d travel with Sai as they were going to part ways. Sai mentioned going to Chile, Naruto bought tickets to Paraguay. Though nowhere was fun he had had with Sasuke, Sai was a pleasant fella. Naruto would miss his company.

“Naruto, it’s your turn for your bath.” Sai said stark naked while he exited the bathroom. It was a common occurrence between them, God knows why Sai wanted to parade all nude in front of him.

“Hm. In a minute.” Naruto didn’t even bat an eye, walking to pick up his clothes. He stopped from Sai’s close proximity, furrowing his eyebrows when Sai held his hand. “Sai, wha⏤” He was silenced when he felt Sai’s mouth touching his lips.

Naruto pushed him away.

“Sai.” Naruto still held him in an arm’s length, laughing nervously. “Seriously, what the fuck?”

“I’ve been wanting to do this to you since we started this trip Naruto.” Sai whispered, trying to touch Naruto’s face.

Naruto walked backwards, squaring his shoulders. “Sai, we talked about this. I’m not interested, I⏤”

Sai rolled his eyes. “I know, you’re into that Sasuke. Even if you two are not in a relationship and even if he’s literally living miles away from you.”

Naruto huffed, growling undaunted. “Yeah. And I told you, ‘cuz of that I⏤”

“You can’t. I heard.” Sai shrugged. “Naruto, I’m not asking for marriage, it’s just sex. It’s our last day traveling together and I thought maybe we could have some fun, that’s all. Where’s the harm of it all?”

“You don’t get it, I⏤”

Sai interjected. “Yes, you’re right, I don’t get it. You don’t have any obligation to be all faithful to that man, so whatever we do won’t matter anyways. I find you attractive Naruto, so can’t we try this, see where it might go…?” He took sauntered forward, hands raised to caress the tanned cheeks.

Naruto took too long to process an answer, so Sai took this as a sign to move in. When he approached, mouth nibbling his lower lip, Naruto shoved him away harshly. He took few steps backwards crossing his arms, to stop his fists to slug Sai on the face. Naruto didn’t feel anything from that brief brush of lips, his body didn’t react at all, thoroughly unphased, not one inch remotely attracted in any sexual manner, not even in a purely physical way. His expression must have shown quite evidently on his face because Sai immediately deflated, dropping his arms to each side.

Naruto cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head in attempt to ease a bit the tension. “Sorry Sai, the truth is that I'm really not interested. What you said makes perfect sense but…” He sighed, memories flooding his heart. “I guess when you meet someone this special, I mean, like I've met Sasuke… There's only a space for one, you get it? So yeah…Sorry.”

“Naruto…”

“Look, it’s not you ok?” Naruto growled, his word final. “It’s pointless, and it’ll only end badly. Please don’t insist.”

Sai stood on the ground, staring back at him in a mixture of hurt and disbelief.

Feeling that this awkward situation wasn’t going away soon, Naruto sighed. “Um, anyways...I’m going outside for a breather k? So we can cool ourselves down.”

As soon as he exited the hostel, his cellphone rang. Naruto read the received and thought to himself. _“Talking about the devil…”_

“Hey Sasuke.” He grunted.

“...something happened?”

Naruto paused in mild astonishment, before he exhaled a tired breath. “Yeah, um, uh...ugh. Sai he...just tried to have sex with me?”

There was a sudden silence coming from Sasuke. For some reason, Naruto could swear that the temperature had decreased several degrees down. “I see.”

The lack of outburst took him off guard. “I’m kinda surprised you’re not angry ‘bout it.”

“Hn, if you accepted his offer you wouldn’t be here talking with me.”

Naruto snorted, his own consternations and anger ebbing away, listening to Sasuke’s calm voice.

“I did warn you about him, didn’t I.”

“Yeah, you did, and I didn’t listen. I mean ok, he asked me on the first day but I said I wasn’t interested so it looked like he didn’t mind. Who would have thought…?”

“You mean he asked before? And why did you refu⏤”

“Huh?” Naruto muttered bewildered. “Why shouldn’t I refuse, I mean, I⏤”

“Naruto.” Sasuke sighed on the phone, a pregnant silence reigning between them. “I⏤if I could, I would hold you forever and never let you go. But the truth is that I’m living far away from you and...well.”

“No.” Naruto hissed. “I don’t want to.”

“But...if you’re interest⏤”

“I wasn’t interested. I’m not interested, I wasn’t interested, I will never get interested because…” Naruto bit his lower lip, staring at the night sky. His fingers were shaking, clenching his cellphone, while his heart was practically exploding in his chest. Yet, he wanted to say it. “You’re mine...right?”

Naruto waited, palms clammy and even the chilling breeze couldn’t cool his crimson face. His ears captured an amused hum and Naruto could picture Sasuke smiling, and this image never failed to steal his breath.

“Hn. You’re goddamn right I am.”

The blond man chuckled, his head light and delirious as he was grinning so widely his face could split in half. Even the freezing temperature was temporarily forgotten as he walked around in circles.

“Naruto.”

The husky tone of his lover piqued his attention at once as Naruto said. “Hm?”

“I’m yours...as long as you’re also mine, am I right?”

He beamed. “Do you even have to ask?”

“Hn.”

Naruto took a while to let both men absorb that set of words, until he grumbled. “Fuck, it’s cold. I can’t stay outside any longer.”

“You want to get in your room?”

Naruto frowned. “Yeah, but Sai is still inside and I guess it’s gonna be awkward as fuck. I guess I’ll go to any restaurant that it’s still open or something like that.”

Sasuke grunted back.

“And I kinda wanted to talk to you longer…” Naruto muttered, blushing.

“...hm.” Sasuke felt his cheeks getting warmer, as he said. “I have an interesting pro bono case I accepted today. It’s about an old man that couldn’t retire because his company recently fired him. And I know you love tearjerking stories like these.”

Naruto snorted, as he crossed the street. “Alright, shoot.”

They spent the rest of the night chatting till the bar closed at dawn.

\--.--.--

AN: SEE?! I told you I’ll give you guys a happy ending! Gawd I wanna sleep. Anyways guys, please leave a comment if you can. I'd really appreciate it.

  



	10. Itinerary 10

AN: Last chapter y’all! It’s finally over lol. Anyways, before you guys start reading, I’m just putting a warning that this time it’ll have a NaruSasu (as Nardo topping and Sasuke bottoming). Ok? Ok.

\--.--.--

The sound of incoming message stopped Sasuke on his tracks. His stomach squirmed pleasantly, picturing all possible scenarios pertaining it.

After they had that conversation days ago, it appears Naruto interpreted this as the button go to send all kinds of lewd messages to him. From dick pics with pre-cum beading on the slit, to videos with Naruto jerking off while moaning his name. Every message sent made him hard and horribly, horribly horny for his boyfriend.

Now...Sasuke considered himself to have a reasonable active sex life, but Naruto took to a whole new level. They have facetime chats daily, but sometimes Naruto convinced him to join him in sexual sessions, Sasuke orgasming with a hoarse shout, staring the hand stroking rapidly the engorged cock, ribbons of cum erupting on the tanned stomach. Sasuke sighed, his dick was already chafing raw from all the daily masturbation.

He stared the cellphone screen with considerable suspicion when he read Naruto’s “Good morning <3 <3” message, even if his dick twitched in interest. Sasuke then unlocked the screen, noticing the wide grin on the video thumbnail so he pressed play, eyes darkening when he saw that Naruto was completely naked.

Naruto grabbed something off screen, only to reveal a rubber dick, long and veined similar to Sasuke’s size. With blue eyes not breaking the gaze, Naruto lubed the dildo, thrusting in his mouth. Sasuke was already feeling his pants tightening as his lover continued to play with the sex toy, licking a little.

Another devilish smirk curled on those full lips when Naruto turned around, giving him the perfect view of that gorgeous round ass and pinkish hole. Sasuke’s jaw dropped when the dildo came to view, as Naruto aimed to be impaled by it gradually in excruciating detail, embedded to the hilt. The rubber dick had a suction on the bottom that held it to the ground, so Naruto started thrusting in it, bouncing and moaning, the dildo sliding in and out in his hole.

At this point, any hot blooded man would have gone rock hard from this vision, and Sasuke was no exception. He glanced downwards, a damping spot spreading on his sweatpants. Naruto’s erotic screams and gasps weren’t helping either, as Sasuke hastened to grab his bottle of lube, shoving his pants downwards.

“Mmmm⏤ yeah, fuck me Sasuke!” Pre-cum drizzled on his cock when he heard that moan and Sasuke cursed under his breath. If this keeps on, his whole week will consist with soiled pants and dirty bed sheets.

\--.--.--

Rubbing the bridge of his nose as he slumped on his seat, Sasuke viewed satisfied his finished report. Most workers were already out for lunch, as he was also getting ready to find the closest restaurant to take a bite.

His ears picked the usual ping sound coming from his cellphone, noticing a new message coming from Naruto. He unlocked, reading it.

_So…did you enjoy the video I sent you this morning?  ;)_

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke typed. _I’m impressed how you can send me so easily the most depraved and lascivious video I have ever seen in my life._

Naruto however, didn’t take the bait. _So you did like it._

_Of course I did._

Sasuke could imagine that his boyfriend was chuckling on the other side of the screen, writing a reply. _Did you like the part when I was screaming your name? Because I was totally imagining you fucking me. Shoving your cock deep in me, making me cum._

Sasuke swallowed dryly, his brain scrambling to erase all the dirty images arising from it. He was starting to regret coming to the office today instead of working in his home. _Nice to know that your imagination is still infuriatingly colorful._

_Well, I had plenty of good material to use as inspiration._

_That is true. But don’t you know when to stop about your never-ending libido, dumbass?_

_Nope, not with you, no. You’ll always make me so hard thinking you sexy bastard fucking me for hours._

Sasuke felt his face growing hotter, thankful for the empty office. _Dumbass._

_Hah. That’s the best you can do? Wow, it’s not every day I’m able to make you this speechless._

_No, I’m just astonished how you have no limits._

_Yeah yeah sure, denial. Victory is mine and I’ll take what I can get._

Sasuke narrowed his eyes with his competitiveness rising, fingers itching to write some sardonic comeback.

 _You know what else I’m thinking?_ Naruto wrote before he could begin any sort of reply.

Sasuke snorted, typing. _What?_

_My cock buried deep in your hole, fucking you hard. I bet it’s really tight, clenching around my cock as I’m fucking your ass over and over._

Sasuke froze in stupor from the sudden change of mood. He adjusted his pants, already feeling his manhood rising. He had a preference in topping, but surely would make an exception for Naruto. He remembered that even though he had a longer cock, Naruto’s was definitely thicker. Just imagining that cock penetrating him whole made his harder.

Undaunted, Naruto kept typing. _Then I’ll grab your nice ass, spreading it wide. Watch your hole swallowing my cock, as I’m fucking you harder and faster. Then I’ll pull out cuz I want to suck you dry._

Sasuke let out a low groan, his hand rubbing his clothed member.

_Yeah, I can’t wait to taste your delicious cock, stuffing in my whole mouth. I’ll let you fuck my mouth, deep throating me. But I won’t swallow your cum. I want to hear your loud scream, as your cock will splatter cum all over my face and I’ll lick it dry._

Holy fuck was Naruto insatiable. Sasuke hurried to the toilet, slamming shut the bathroom stall as he freed his erection, hissing as he already was stroking rapidly the length. Trembling, he typed. _I’m working dumbass._

There was a pause, Sasuke definitely knew that Naruto was laughing now. _I sucked you off while you were talking with your mom, this is nothing. You’ll get over it._

 _Fuck you._ Sasuke managed to type out, keeping down his grunts in pleasure, echoing in the room.

_I’m getting there. Few more weeks honey._

_Dumbass._ Sasuke typed back, until he swore his heart stopped. He re-read again, and his fingers almost moved on the screen hesitantly. _What do you mean by that?_

 _Yeah...Sasuke...you want to go to Algeria next month? I’m going there in the next few weeks and I’m staying there for a while so if you could it’d be great._ Naruto hastened to add. _If you can’t it’s ok too but I’d love to, I miss you so much._

 _I'll go._ He typed, erection temporarily forgotten. _Tell me when and for how long._

He almost dropped his cellphone when it chimed, asking for a video call. Sasuke accepted it to see Naruto’s frantic expression.

“You're serious? I mean, are you really serious?”

“Of course.” Sasuke responded evenly. “I just have to make sure it's not too expensive but any date will do.”

He observed the blond man opening and closing his mouth speechless, blue eyes shimmering conflicted in between excited happiness but considerable concern. “... Are you sure? You just started this new job and you really seem to like it, I don't want to burden you…”

“Don't worry about it.” Sasuke assured him. "I already planned ahead to avoid this kind of trouble in the future."

Naruto listened intently, shadows of doubt clearing up to a sunny grin. "That's so great! I can't wait to see you again!"

Sasuke struggled to keep out a silly beam widening on his lips. He still smiled back, heartbeats throbbing warmly.

Naruto realized Sasuke's surroundings as he chuckled. “Where the hell are you?”

He grunted, realizing the erection hadn't wilted yet. “In the toilet, thanks to a certain someone that tortured me some minutes ago.”

Naruto’s grin turned mischievous and lustful. “Lemme help you with that. I hope you're good with multi-tasking bastard.”

“If any of my coworkers hear me I swear I'll kill you for this.”

Naruto checked his wristwatch then muttered. “It's their lunch time so I bet they're going to return in about half an hour. Plenty time for us to have our fun.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Sasuke groaned. Like he had said, his boyfriend was going to be the death of him.

\--.--.--

Another new country to visit, new adventures to explore. Naruto struggled to focus in this task however, too giddy with the idea of seeing Sasuke soon.

He needed to control his expenses too, not being able to afford distant trips. One of his friends he met previously offered a spot to sleep in his house much to his relief. When Naruto mentioned that his boyfriend was coming over, his friend made a face and then shrugged.

He was also pretty busy with his work, though they went for some sightseeing in his free hours. Or at least attempted to, since Naruto was fidgeting every five seconds, distracted.

“That's enough for now.” Gaara said, turning around towards the exit.

“Huh? But you said there are plenty other places to go.” Naruto muttered, tilting his head to one side.

“And we would have gone there if only you're not too busy thinking about your boyfriend, your head in the clouds.”

The blond man sputtered. “It's not that bad⏤” His cellphone vibrated. "Oh, Sasuke just messaged me.”

Gaara rolled his eyes from Naruto's obvious infatuated tone, leaving to his devices as he called for his chauffer.

Naruto noticed the pdf Sasuke sent him on the chat, with a short message of ‘ _Just go to page 34’_ below it. Raising an eyebrow, he downloaded it once he could get some free wi-fi, since the document was pretty heavy. Naruto soon realized that it’s about Sasuke’s medical history. Scratching his head, he scrolled down reading all Sasuke’s cholesterol levels, blood pressure and whatsoever, until he stopped at the aforementioned page. His nose took a sharp inhale, staring down the title.

_Sexually Transmitted Infection Results_

Then, there was a long list of those diseases, as Naruto read line per line to get the final verdict describing that Sasuke was completely clean.

His eyes were fixed on those letters for the longest time, heart beating fast that he could almost taste in his tongue. The innocuous result gave so many implications, subtle revelations that warmed him inside out. His lips gave in to a soft smile.

Alright, first stop tomorrow is going to be in a hospital for a checkup.

Days later, it was Sasuke's side to feel so restless. He covered better than Naruto though, only receiving a knowing beam from his mother and a roll of eyes from Itachi. He spent the whole day organizing his luggage to cover his anxiety, even if the vivid sensations of sliding of skin kept plaguing his dreams.

His heart drummed unsettled in the airport. However, it was a pleasant feel of expectation, completely different back when he went to Brazil; wanting to run away from the morosity that loomed over his life.

These emotions only increased in intensity as he was getting close to his destination. It was the first time in many years that he wished time could pass so much faster, link him to his love as soon as possible.

Once he cleared up customs, waiting his luggage as he tapped with his foot, Sasuke practically sprinted towards the exit. They were so in synch that he didn't even need to search for Naruto, he let his soul guide him through until he was enveloped by Naruto's arms at last.

Every sense palpitated that it became so overwhelming, almost as if he was regaining half of his soul. Naruto clutched his hands tighter on Sasuke, soaking everything about him, recalling once again the temperature of his body, the smooth skin and the hard edges of his muscles.

He heard Sasuke’s sharp inhale close to his ear, shifting closer with a whisper. “I really want to kiss you now.”

It’s so fucking unfair this immediate effect of his husky voice would do to him, the shivers running down his spine. Naruto also took a deep inhale to take in Sasuke’s scent, muttering with a smile. “I’m pretty sure we can’t. I think here they have some homophobic laws too.”

“Fuck.”

Naruto chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Let’s overthrow the government while we’re here and make buttsex legal.”

He heard a snort next to him as Sasuke said. “Maybe. We’ll do that next week.”

Their hug maintained for long blissful minutes, before Sasuke released him with a little bit of regret. Naruto noticed the blue jewel gleaming on Sasuke's chest so he unconsciously grabbed it to inspect. “You've been taking good care of my necklace are you?”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow then muttered with a sardonic tone. “Yes, I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. How about you?”

Naruto laughed. “Hey, I know everything about you in the latest months, so I know you're well. Now quit being so jealous over a necklace.”

“Well, even if you do, it's all about protocol, to show you really care.” Sasuke answered imperiously.

“I've been wearing this necklace for years, so sorry if I'm paying more attention to it than you little baby.” When Sasuke opened his mouth ready to protest, Naruto patted his chest. “Alright, I don't see any visible scratches. Let's go?”

Sasuke followed with his eyes as the blond man took his luggage, already following with the crowd towards the exit. Grunting, he walked next to Naruto, sensing the heat radiating from him, noticing the wayward hand as it swung back and forth. His fingers itched to reach it and interlace with Naruto's, but people were already glaring with hostility while they were hugging, he wouldn't want to risk his life to taste Nigeria's homophobia.

Naruto appeared to have his line of thought since he restrained himself from touching him as much as he could, mouth running miles per hour while they were on the way to his house. Sasuke shook his head fondly from Naruto's splitting grin, absorbing all the boisterous happiness.

They were so distracted with their conversation that soon enough, they arrived at their destiny. Sasuke blinked, unsure if he really arrived in the correct place but his boyfriend was already fishing his keys out of his pocket.

“Did I miss something or you’re secretly the son of some millionaire?” He drooled out, impressed by the size of the mansion, full with a front garden, a swimming pool and a private parking space.

Naruto laughed. “Nah, a friend of mine lend it to me. His name is Gaara, really cool dude. You're going to meet him tomorrow, and I think you're gonna like him. And man… I had no idea he was filthy rich when I met him, he surely didn't look like it.”

Sasuke hummed, silently praying that there won't have anyone to hinder private activities.

Naruto was definitely reading his mind because he approached, whispering close to his ear. “And I asked him to leave this place compleeeetely empty. The cleaner ladies will only arrive once we're done.”

Naruto's last words kept echoing inside his brain, his body reacting with all the possibilities open. Sasuke managed to grunt composed, walking behind with smooth steps. It was getting harder to tamp down his nervousness, heart beating faster as Naruto was opening the door.

Once they got in, there was a subtle silence as Sasuke kept staring the decoration, anything to avoid looking at Naruto while the latter was placing his luggage in the hall.

The blond man cleared his throat, catching his attention. “Well.” He grinned wide.

Sasuke almost wanted to whack on the upside of his head, Naruto's grin was so silly and lovestruck. He struggled with the urge to blush or worse, also smile in the same goofy way so he settled with a languid raise of eyebrow.

Naruto's beam only grew bigger as eyes squinted in amusement, clearly seeing through his facade of nonchalance. He really ought to stop this nonsense, Sasuke kissed him, muffling Naruto's laughter. Soft and chaste, it recalled all pleasant sensations once again, he reopened his eyes to gaze Naruto's contented face. Fingers brushed on his pale cheeks as Naruto returned his kiss, lips pressing closer as he angled to match their mouths better. They communicated through these wordless seconds, each glide or overlap of lips said:

_I miss you._

_I'm so happy I'm here with you._

_I want you._

_I…_

Exhaling loudly, Sasuke had no idea when Naruto's arms trapped around him, the wooden table digging on his back. He moaned when a tongue glided in his slackened lips, opening his mouth and wrapping together. Naruto growled low on his throat, half lidded eyes crossed their gazes as Sasuke caressed his blond hair.

Naruto retracted a little, resting his forehead on Sasuke's collarbone with a happy sigh. Sasuke kept sliding his fingers through the blond hair, letting the time stretch longer, savoring this closeness. He muttered though. “I have to unload my luggage.”

Naruto only made an unintelligible whine, rubbing his nose on the fabric and giving a sharp inhale.

Sasuke patted his head, then insisted. “Well?”

Naruto huffed, enveloping his arms around his body. “Remind me why I'm attracted to you bastard?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Probably because I'm the few ones who can put up with your crazy dumbass self.”

Naruto almost protested until he rolled his eyes, smiling. “Whatever you bastard, let's go. Don’t fall behind, I’m not going to wait for you, old man.”

Picking his luggage, Sasuke followed Naruto, managing to keep his composure as his boyfriend returned to his energetic self, completely oblivious to his growing nervousness.

Naruto barely planted a foot inside their bedroom when Sasuke shoved him on the wall, lips claiming a passionate kiss with a grind of hips until Sasuke breathed out.

“Happy birthday.”

He only managed to capture blue eyes widening in response, before he was hoisted by the shoulder, Naruto sprinted and dropped him to the bed.

“The hell?” Sasuke growled, unable to maintain his usual composure, staring Naruto yanking his shoes and socks off.

“Your ass is mine right? Like a returning gift for what I’ve done in your birthday. I’m definitely accepting so let’s get this done with it right now.” Naruto declared, chuckling with his wide impish grin, playfully pinching Sasuke’s buttock.

Sasuke planted one foot on his chest in mock annoyance. “Jumping straight to sex without even some cheesy words to woo me first? Young people these days, no concept of romance whatsoever.” He smirked.

Blue eyes narrowed in affectionate mischief, throwing the leg over his shoulder, hand gliding through, as he slowly crawled over his body. Fingers found the zipper from his pants, dragging it down, with lips whispering close to his ear. “I’m going to fuck you so raw you won’t be able to walk for a week.”

Sasuke swallowed dryly with his cock hardening in response, grunting when Naruto claimed for another kiss, their lips sensually gliding with breathless moans and tender bites.

Blue eyes darkening with lust, Naruto yanked off his shirt, also shaking off Sasuke's pants as his fingers palmed the clothed erection. He lowered himself, taking a long inhale to smell the musky scent. “God, I missed this.”

Sasuke's erection was already tenting on his boxers, hands gripping the blond head as Naruto licked the whole length. He muttered, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off. “Hm. You missed sucking my cock?”

Naruto’s sole response was a predatory grin curling on his lips. His hands wasted no second to strip off Sasuke’s underwear, mouth wrapping around the sensitive head and earning a surprised gasp. He sucked, bobbing his head several times before sliding down the entire length.

Sasuke choked a curse, gripping tighter the tufts of hair. It was a mesmerizing sight; Naruto engulfing his manhood with glazed blue eyes staring back at him. Breathing through his nose, Naruto glided back with the palm of his hands kneading his sacks. A moan vibrated on his cock as Naruto went down all over again, the wet walls of his mouth constricting even tighter around his manhood.

Sasuke wrapped his hand on the base, slowing down his breaths to control himself. His boyfriend had the full intention in devouring him all, tasting the saltiness of his skin, feeling the rigidness of his length. He relished how Sasuke’s hips were undulating, slipping even further inside his mouth. The tip of his tongue teased the slit of his cock, moaning when pre-cum dripped in his mouth, slurping as he closed his eyes. Gripping the pale buttocks, his lips tightened around the hot flesh, descending inch per inch as if he was mapping Sasuke’s entire cock until his nose nestled in the black pubic hair.

“Naruto⏤fuck” Sasuke gasped, desperately trying to avoid blowing his load too soon. Thankfully Naruto sensed the way his balls were tightening, slowly releasing him from that sweet torture. He paused to admire the glistening cock now lathered with his saliva, slurping one last time as he climbed upwards, mouths seizing for another hard kiss.

Sasuke grunted when he felt the rough fabric of Naruto’s jeans, glaring as he vowed to remove this offending article out of his sight. His impatience tugs backfired him however, proven to be quite unhelpful with their mouths still fused together.

Noticing this predicament, Naruto retracted farther but earned a warning growl from Sasuke. Yanking the blond hair, he meshed their lips for another deep kiss, his hands insisting on tugging in this fruitless quest. “Wait a minute will you, bastard.” Naruto breathed out with a teasing grin, turning his body around to take off his pants easier. He soon returned on his task of kissing Sasuke's thin lips, both men moaning from the tantalizing feel of their hard cocks grinding hotly together.

Naruto grabbed the lube lying on the nightstand, lathering their erections with a harder thrust. He gazed fascinated the way graphite eyes shut in bliss, craving to make Sasuke husk out those wanton moans, hisses escaping from his thin lips. He covered his fingers with lube, hastening to rub them on the entrance. One finger poked almost inquisitively, asking for permission, before slithering in.

Naruto let his digit linger inside, feeling the warmth and velvety texture. It accommodated easily, so another finger joined in, pushing and pulling in a constant pace.

Sasuke grumbled. “Idiot, you don't need to do this, I already⏤” His body arched and Naruto’s grin was positively feral.

“I know.” He growled, lifting one leg with his fingers kept stimulating the sensitive gland, stroking and gradually increasing its pressure. He kept twisting in different angles, spearing and twirling inside the heated channel.

Sasuke bit his lip, watching his pre-cum leaking on the pale stomach. He felt vulnerable somehow, not from those fingers penetrating him, but rather because of the piercing blue eyes gazing his every movement. Any small twitch on his face, nerves expanding in his body and making him groan, his boyfriend processed the information to a intimate detail. Fingers continued to press more accurately, fire coiling in his belly until Sasuke only craved to be consumed all.

A flicker of darkened eyes was enough for Naruto to turn around, scrambling to grab a condom from the nightstand. Sasuke glared, doing the first thing his brain came up with, foot digging on the tanned chest. “What the hell are you doing?”

Naruto blinked bewildered, showing the package. “Um...this is a condom? I’m using it?”

Sasuke frowned. “Wasn’t the whole point why we exchanged our medical exams so that we won’t have to use any of these ever again?”

“W-well, but I don’t know, I thought that maybe you’d be uncomfortable at first so⏤” When Sasuke's foot restarted kicking quite insistently on his chest, Naruto balked. “Alright alright, I get it! Geez, such violence.” He laughed.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose with a curled smirk, satisfied from winning this argument. He hesitated however, muttering. “It’s the first time I ever done bareback.”

Naruto smiled back. “Yeah...me too.”

This quiet admittance was absorbed as they stared wordlessly, morphing into a melting kiss, Sasuke’s arms pulling him down as Naruto’s lips tasted him so softly. He moved back, cerulean eyes gazing towards his lover until Sasuke gave him a silent consent.

Moist lips kissed the pale chest, teeth running through it and gnawing the taut muscles. Closing his eyes with a long inhale, Naruto held the base of his cock after pouring the lube over it. His erection twitched and throbbed painfully, his hand shaking a little, eager. His eyes stared the puckered hole, enticing him so Naruto aimed, the bulbous head pushing the entrance and impaling inside, drawing moans from both young men.

Sasuke sucked in a unsteady breath, fingers digging on the tanned forearms. Logically, the overall sensation didn't change that much. But as heartbeats heightened out of control, he had dawned the comprehension that there was nothing hindering this skin to skin contact, rushing a myriad of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

This onslaught unbalanced Sasuke, perhaps causing his body to respond in kind. Naruto sensed him tensing as the head of his cock barely nudged in, so he halted at once. “Sasuke…”

Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth. “I know. Wait a⏤” He huffed loudly.

He received a soft brush of lips, blue eyes brimming with concern. “Hey, it's okay, if you want me to stop⏤”

“No. Go on.” Sasuke growled, his fingers clutching on his nape closer, kissing him in reassurance. He was comforted once he saw Naruto’s relieved smile, mouth latching on his pale neck, alternating between light suckles and an occasional playful tongue. Naruto grabbed the pillows laying above dark head and placed under his hips, squirting more lube on his palm as he stroked Sasuke's cock. Whatever initial anxiety ebbed away to sparks of pleasure, skilled fingers stimulating the sensitive head while Naruto let his mouth run all over his chest. He knew exactly which spots would make Sasuke squirm and groan, aching from the epiphany how they understood each other’s body so well.

They were linked still, but as Sasuke looked more relaxed, Naruto drew completely out, before pushing in. His cock penetrated in a calm move, a contrast with his usual eager self. Eyes locked together, Naruto placed his hands on each side of Sasuke’s head as blunt nails sunk on the tanned back. Shutting his eyes, Naruto began to thrust, each time he burrowed deeper, pushing the pain away to give in building heat.

Sasuke grumbled impatiently, tilting his hips but Naruto held him down. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He whispered, reigning his instincts. Thrusts were calculating, after being reassured that his boyfriend was loosen enough, he could accomodate more.

Sasuke forgot about these lost sensations, the hard and thick cock stretching his hole, hot and slick, filling him. This familiar push and pull got significantly special from the fact that it was Naruto impaling him, heavy breaths fanning his face. He raised himself in attempt to kiss the swollen lips, thankfully Naruto understood the silent command, mouths coming together in a groan as his cock was embedded to the hilt at last.

Naruto maintained a languid pulsate of hips, as dark eyes strayed to gaze tanned and pale limbs were tangled together, joints and crevices connecting flawlessly. Ecstasy flowed steadily in his body though Sasuke yearned for more. He had enough of Naruto’s patience and thoughtfulness, he wanted to embrace all wild energy within.

So he kicked on the tanned chest once more, earning a raise of blond eyebrow. “So far you haven’t been impressing me much dumbass. Are you really going to make up to that promise you said minutes ago?” Sasuke said sardonically.

His taunt must have worked pretty well because Naruto even paused his thrusts, narrowing his eyes. Slowly, a wicked smirk widened on his lips, sending delightful shivers down his spine. Sasuke braced himself when Naruto raised back to a seating position, each hand holding his ankle and spreading his toned legs.

“Ah⏤!” Sasuke moaned from a sharp thrust, Naruto continued to plunge in a ruthless pace. Tanned legs shifted forward, ramming balls deep, not losing any momentum.

His pulse leaped, this carnal heat cramming in his body so hard and fast that it was almost sinful, bucking in response. Sasuke couldn’t find any space to breathe, because whatever caution Naruto previously had, now evaporated as he drilled unyielding, an animalistic growl showing on his teeth.

Naruto didn’t stop, didn’t slow down. He maintained delivering those powerful stabs limitless and Sasuke only writhed, taking all in. The erupting ecstasy was getting almost painful, but he hungered for more, till Naruto could claim him inside out.

Then Naruto spread his legs indecently wide, cock spearing even deeper inside. Sasuke found himself screaming hoarsely, babbling nonsensical words, begging for Naruto to fuck him harder, faster, more and more. Balls slapped wetly on his ass, as Naruto complied him, speed increasing in this overwhelming fire. Normally he’d scoff at the notion of making those filthy noises, but somehow Naruto managed to snap the tight line of his control, melting down all his barriers.

And this is what Sasuke had been waiting for so long, releasing his inhibitions, revealing all his raw self to his beloved. Merciless thrusts continued to torment him but did he love every time Naruto’s cock was embedded deep inside his hole.

Naruto’s hands held the back of his knees and pushed his legs down, raising his ass even further. This addicting pleasure overwhelmed him, it was just too much, just too little. Naruto then angled his cock to plunge directly on Sasuke’s prostate. Which made everything worse. Or better. Honestly, Sasuke had ceased any kind of rational thought, not when his whole body was being thoroughly invaded in this wanton madness.

His own hands wound up to grab on the headboard, holding steady to meet better with Naruto’s thrusts. Sasuke was rewarded with a hand curling on his cock, Naruto digging his heel on the bed to press even forward inside him. The delicious ecstasy tilted his entire world, the edge teetering close.

With a husky growl, Naruto jerked sharply, shooting his load inside Sasuke. His head swan hazily with the realization that he was staking his claim in this most primal way possible, his balls tightened to spurt extra jets in the loosen hole. He hastened to drive his lover to the peak, two strokes from Naruto’s hand was all that Sasuke needed for his body to spasm with a shout, ribbons of semen dirtying their sweaty bodies.

For long seconds, no man attempted to move in the room, still milking the aftershocks of their orgasm as they regained their breath. Sasuke shuddered, feeling the sudden emptiness when Naruto drew out him. Naruto was heaving heavily but recovered soon, pecking his lips as his boyfriend only blinked once. He chuckled, patting the dark head before cleaning themselves with a humid towel.

Sasuke was sprawled on the bed while staring on the ceiling, almost as if he needed some extra seconds for his soul to descend back to his body. This was, honest to God, one of the best sex he ever had in his life. Naruto was always great in bed but he definitely surpassed this time. Sasuke preferred pitching, for sure, but after this, there was no way he wouldn’t want to let Naruto top him more often.

Naruto returned with a bottle of water in hand, gulping down with gusto as he sat next to Sasuke. “Want some?”

Sasuke accepted, feeling that his voice had gotten hoarse from all the previous screaming. He drank while mulling whether he should ask, deciding to bite the bullet. “Back when we were in Brazil…”

“Hm? What about it?” Naruto grabbed the bottle back and sipped.

“Is there any reason why you always let me top? I mean⏤” Sasuke cleared his throat, he really didn’t want to stroke his boyfriend’s ego too much.

“Oh.” Naruto shrugged. “Yeah, you seemed to be the type who is more used to top and well, for me I don’t have any preference of pitching or receiving and since the trip was short, I didn’t want to waste time over something like that.” He squinted his eyes with a mischievous grin. “Whyyy? You wanna tell me something I should know?”

Sasuke glared, not bothering to give any answer as he snatched the water. Naruto chuckled, laying on the back, scooting closer with a happy sigh. Sasuke twisted his body to place the bottle on the bedside table and winced. Ok, now he’s noticing the aftermath, his legs struggling to move as he could feel Naruto’s essence trickling inside him. This very thought made him blush bright red.

After this intense sex that exhausted their energies, they were pretty content basking on each other’s warm body, with occasional caress when permitted. Naruto dropped a wet kiss on his shoulder, arms loosely linking around his waist as he placed his head on the pale collarbone.

Sasuke really loathed to ruin this perfect moment, wanting nothing but to succumb to his fatigue and the comfort Naruto provided. He wondered if it’d be better if he postponed for later, since he didn’t want Naruto misunderstand that this was anything related to sex, but he couldn’t say for sure he’d be able to work out his nerve in the following days.

He inhaled several times to smell his lover’s scent, his fingers combing through the golden strands of hair. Sasuke muttered, kissing his head. “Naruto.”

Naruto grumbled back.

“You know, the last time…” Sasuke clutched the bed sheets, smoothing to wipe the sweat from his hands. “Last time we were together, there were some things left unfinished.”

Naruto groaned, nuzzling his nose on his chest. “Yeah? And then?”

“I thought…” Sasuke gulped dryly. “I thought, maybe we should come clean about everything.”

Huffing, he scratched the back of his head while he raised on Sasuke’s eye level. Naruto studied Sasuke’s steady gaze, muttering. “You really want to talk about this?”

Sasuke nodded. “I really want to talk about this.”

Naruto’s azure eyes lost some of his vivacity, recalling those memories and shifting his sight to the ground. He felt Sasuke’s long fingers caressing his arm, catching his attention as he returned to look back towards his boyfriend.

“I know we didn’t finish that trip how we originally planned. We didn’t have enough time to talk about us and I still regretted some things I said to you.”

“It’s really ok, Sasuke, I understood why you said it and I don’t mind about it.” Naruto reassured him.

“I hurt you and I shouldn’t have done that.” Sasuke muttered. “We didn’t discuss through, because both of us were too afraid of uncertainties. The only thing I’m glad about our last day in Brazil is that I understood how important you are to me.”

“I⏤ I’m glad. Because you are as important to me too.” Naruto smiled, playing with his black bangs as his knuckles grazed his cheek.

Sasuke seized his hand, kissing over it. “We didn’t talk through because we didn’t have enough time to think through. But these last months, were more than enough for me to finally understand one thing.”

Staring their linked hands, Sasuke took long deep breaths to calm his heartbeats, fingers clenching tighter. He raised with a steady gaze declaring.

“Naruto, I want you to be part of my life.”

Naruto widened his eyes, and Sasuke could practically sense tendrils of panic invading at the back of his mind. However, Naruto’s thumb kept caressing his hand, encouraging him with his speech.

“I mean, not only through Facetime or Messenger, I really want you constantly by my side. Or as much as possible.” Before the blond man could point out the obvious problems, Sasuke filled in. “I know, what I’m asking of you will demand some sacrifices but this is why I’m here. We have time to talk through now, we have time to plan ahead. If you’re willing.” He finished with a shy mutter.

Naruto rolled his eyes, dropping a short kiss on his lips. “Right, and you call me a dumbass. Of course I’m willing.” He grinned widely, then rubbed the back of his head. “It’s...going to be complicated though.”

“I know. I understand you’re still traveling across the countries and I’m not going to be so foolish to stop you from doing this. And well...the fact that you like doing this, is also one of the things that attracted me about you. I guess I’m asking...to consider visiting France frequently from now on.”

“It depends. Are we going to visit the Eiffel Tower and Champs-Élysées?” Naruto said with a lopsided beam.

“We’ll do whatever you want and more. I...I even prepared my apartment so you can stay for as long as you’d like with me.”

Naruto looked astonished for a moment, before kissing him. “Really?”

“Yes. Naruto, I know that back in Brazil I thought that I didn’t want any strings attached but with you...I want this commitment. We can spend all days planning buying the cheapest flight tickets, when we’re going to meet next time.” Sasuke licked his lips and mumbled. “Actually, one of the reasons I accepted my current job is because they’re allowing me to work outside the office.”

“So this is why you were able to travel here to Algeria?”

“Yes. I really enjoyed exploring Brazil, company excluded of course.” Sasuke teased, earning a weak nudge in response. “So after negotiating, they agreed to let me travel whenever I can, as long as I can warn them beforehand.”

“That’s so great! I want to travel more with you, plan together our next destination. I’m⏤” Naruto linked their fingers, squeezing a bit. “I’m really excited.”

Sasuke released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, his lips tugging to a sincere smile that reached to his eyes at last. All the doubts he had, that caused him to travel to Brazil, meeting Naruto, getting to know him…it really seems that fate had conspired to make today a reality. It’s not like he sudden had an understanding of the world but now that Naruto was next to him...it makes the thrill of facing life more thrilling than dreadful.

With his heart leaping to his throat, Sasuke turned around, searching for his backpack. “Actually...there’s also something I wanted to give you.”

“Um...sure, what is it?” Naruto muttered confused, watching his boyfriend rummaging his belongings. He glanced curious, as Sasuke clutched the object to his palm, before turning around to face him.

“You know...I was thinking, since you’re still going to travel across the globe...since I have your amulet, I wanted to exchange for something as valuable as your necklace. So I asked my parents if they have something similar as protection that guarded our family for generations and...I have this.” He raised his hand to reveal a golden ring.

Naruto’s eyes were as wide as saucers in reaction, fingers tentatively approaching as if he wasn’t sure of this sight. He took the ring from Sasuke like he was holding the most fragile thing from Earth, staring the innocuous object.

“It’s...well.” Sasuke explained. “It’s an engagement ring my family passed from parent to child, and then she’d usually give to her future spouse. My mother said that once a woman gave to his fiancé when he went to World War II so he could safely come home and he actually survived, so we also believe that it also worked as an amulet like yours so…”

Naruto only nodded mutely, jaw slack gazing at the ring.

As the wide blue eyes didn’t seem to be receding any soon, Sasuke lost all nerve, mumbling without his usual aloofness. “You know, you don’t have to use it on your finger, and I’m really not pressuring you for anything this extreme, it’s just that this is the only thing that is equal in importance with your necklace so I thought it’d be fair...of course, if you want to, I’m also not stoppin⏤” He was tackled by a very enthusiastic moron that robbed all his breath, as they both fell on the bed.

“I loved it.” Naruto declared, beaming broadly. Sasuke stared entranced; he always enjoyed watching every variety of Naruto’s grins, but this time…his smile was just so breathtakingly dazzling. “Can I wear it now?” The blond man asked with an unusual meekness.

“Of course.” Sasuke assured him, as Naruto obeyed, putting the ring on his hand to admire it.

He snickered. “Either the women in your family got some large hands or I’m missing something else.”

Sasuke snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous, I asked to adjust to my size before giving to you.”

“Well...then it’s perfect. Thank you.” Soon Naruto captured his lips to a kiss, soft at first but increased in intensity as they nibbled and parted their mouths.

Sasuke really didn’t want to turn this sexual, however, Naruto started rolling his hips as they kissed, ass rubbing on his cock that Sasuke was already feeling the immediate effect from it. “I-idiot.” He mumbled, in attempt to breathe between passionate kisses. “If you keep moving like that I’ll⏤”

On the corner of his eyes, he captured the mischievous grin widening, with a particular rub that had him reeling. Sasuke succumbed, hands grabbing and spreading the ass cheeks, grinding with his rapidly growing manhood. He certainly did the right move, because Naruto broke the kiss with a lusty moan, hips thrusting in renewed zeal, the reddened head of his cock poking the tight hole.

Naruto searched blindly for the bottle of lube, lathering all sloppily on Sasuke’s erection before he sank in completely without warning. They both moaned from the electrifying contact, tanned hips were already rolling in synch with his upward thrusts.

Sasuke smirked, between breathless gasps. “Can’t you wait a little, you sexy-crazed stamina freak?”

Naruto held both his hands as Sasuke groped and kneaded the soft flesh of tanned ass, staring the delicious cock leaking with pre-cum. “I already waited months bastard, I’m not going to wait any longer.”

Sasuke wholeheartedly agreed with this statement, as he sped up his thrusts.

\--.--.--

Jesus fuck, God almighty and everything holy, everything _hurts._ Sasuke croaked a feeble whine, struggling to move his _very_ **sore** backside. This was it, five times was his limit. He’s never going to be this crazy sex maniac ever again.

He heard Naruto’s voice from outside the bedroom, missing the temperature of his body but secretly glad that his boyfriend wasn’t there to witness his lost of composure. Naruto would tease him to no end.

Once he deemed decent enough to walk without grimacing too much, Sasuke stood up, fighting the urge to place his hand on his hip like he was a sixty years old man. Sighing, he walked outside, noticing that Naruto was talking on the phone.

“Morning.” Naruto pecked on his lips, raising his hand as a silent message for him to wait a little.

Sasuke nodded wordlessly, bewildered from Naruto’s business tone. He sat on the kitchen counter, watching as the blond man pointed options for his breakfast. He chose eggs and muttered he wanted sunny side, once done, Naruto turned on the stove, the noise of sizzling filling the room.

Naruto thanked whoever was on the other side of the line, grinning to his boyfriend as he kissed him again. “Well, I said before but yeah. Morning! How are you feeling, still jet lagged?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Was that your friend you told me we’re meeting today?”

“Hm? No, not really.” Naruto placed the eggs on his plate, munching his own food.

Sasuke hummed, curious beside himself but regarded unnecessary to ask any further. “So...what are our plans to visit today?”

“Well, one thing for sure, we better skip any horse riding tour, for the sake of your sore bum.” Naruto laughed when Sasuke pinched his arm. “Sorry, I think today we won’t be able to do much, I gotta make tons of phone calls.”

“Hn. Anything I can help?”

“Maybe...I’ll explain to you later.” Naruto assured him, finishing his breakfast.

He spent the entire afternoon calling several times to different people, and while Sasuke didn’t want to pry too much, he understood from clipped conversations that it concerned with Naruto’s job as digital influencer. While he waited, Sasuke unpacked his luggage, watching his boyfriend moving around, until he finished his last call.

“Alright, I think I’m done! Hey, Gaara told me that there’s a nice open museum with an awesome view to see the sunset, you wanna come with me?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Sure. I can call the cab.” From all the fidgeting Naruto was doing, he figured that his boyfriend wanted some time for another conversation.

He didn’t gather any foreboding sensation, as Naruto was still feeling at ease around him, joking and bickering on the way. Once they arrived at the appointed place, while the sunset was extremely beautiful, they were too preoccupied to properly appreciate it.

“Sasuke…” Naruto inhaled and pressed on. “You mind if I ask for a favor?”

“As long as it’s not too outrageous since I know your prankster self well, fine.” Sasuke muttered, smirk in place.

“Damn, then all my ideas went down the drain bastard.” Naruto barked a chortle, before sobering up. “Ok, I mean that aside. Uh…Sasuke, you said you got your apartment ready so I can visit you in France right?”

Quirking an eyebrow, he nodded in affirmation.

“Hm…” Naruto scratched his hair. “So...you mind if I stay longer? I mean, very long like…not really having a date to leave?”

Sasuke straightened up, heartbeats drumming on his chest, unbelieving his luck. “Of course I won’t mind. I told you, you can stay for as long as you like.”

What he received back was Naruto’s open expression, blue eyes raw with emotions. Fingers linked behind his nape as he was drawn for an amorous kiss, returning in kind.

When Naruto retracted a bit, their foreheads attached, Sasuke murmured. “Is there...any reason why you decided to do this?”

Naruto hummed, shifting back to gaze him. “You remember back when we had that conversation about how you wondered about all the point of earning money when all you’ll get is some nice retirement at the end of your life?”

Puzzled by the sudden change of gears, Sasuke gave a brief nod back.

“Yeah. I’m the same. But actually, the other way around.” Naruto sighed loudly. “Sasuke, my job is a temporary gig, you know. I don’t earn enough money from it, and one day I’ll get too old to attract my follower’s attentions forever. I’m scared that once I’m old man, I’ll end up working to the bone and sleeping on the streets, or something worse than that.”

“That’s...a very fair concern.” Sasuke muttered back.

“Mm. Also...I mentioned before, I’m graduated in International Relations. I really want to work in this area and I plan to do it as soon as I returned to Italy.”

“And...why haven’t you done that yet?”

Naruto quirked a humorless smile, shaking his head. “Because I’m a coward. I told you before, I got away from my parents’ protective net to land on another one. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get any job, and I doubt that there’ll be a lot of companies willing to accept someone of my age to work in a position that someone younger could occupy instead. So I got used to this routine of going country to country, working in odd jobs, having some sponsors with my Instagram account. I felt the ticking clock everyday, but...I couldn’t stop.”

Sasuke absorbed this bout of information, he offered some words. “You have every right to get this worried, but I doubt it’s this bad, it’s never too late for anything, you know.”

“Maybe you’re right, but I just couldn’t move at that time. I kept seeing my college friends getting married, having kids, while I’m stuck exactly like when I just graduated with them. Traveling alone can be pretty tiring sometimes, I…” Naruto brushed Sasuke’s cheek with his thumb and muttered. “I guess I envied them. Finding close friends, forming strong relationships...you know that you’re the first close friend I had in years? I never stopped in one place and while I met many people...there was no one that I could really form a bond.”

“I guess I’m really this special.” Sasuke deadpanned.

“I’m trying to have a romantic moment with you bastard, don’t ruin it.” Naruto chuckled, kissing his thin lips. “You have no idea how special you are. When you told me how you literally dropped everything just to travel to Brazil, I admired you, you know? Even if you never traveled by yourself, even if you were scared, you’ve done despite all odds. And last night...that’s when I realized that I can’t delay any longer, I want to face my fears.”

“And that’s why...you want to move in with me?” Sasuke whispered, hoping embed in his tone.

“I...ugh, actually, I feel bad that I’m doing this to you. Even after I told you all the troubles I’ll face while looking for a job, I feel like I’m leeching off you.” Naruto frowned, tensing his shoulders.

“Naruto, I told you, I got everything ready. And when we agreed in this relationship, that also meant that we’ll share everything, our issues or conquers, whatever is in. And it’s just money, if it’ll give you less trouble, I’m definitely in.” Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.

“But…”

“I know you’re hardworking, I doubt you’ll stay unemployed for too long. And even if you do, I don’t believe you’re moving with me just because you’re interested in my money.”

“Maybe I’m looking for a sugar daddy.” Naruto’s eyes gleamed playfully.

“I’m too young for this.” Sasuke sniffed imperiously.

“Are you sure…? I mean, I’m not the one who is limping after we had some rounds of sex.”

“You can keep your smartass thoughts to yourself, if you really don’t want me to change my mind right now.”

Naruto made the movement of zipping his mouth with his hand, attempting to make the most guilty look possible but failing miserably. He laughed then, remembering. “You know, letting you share the room back in Ouro Preto was the best decision I have ever made in my life.” His smile softened. “You gave me inspiration to change myself. I’m really glad I met you.”

Feeling his cheeks getting hotter, Sasuke shrugged. “It wasn’t much. I didn’t have this much higher stakes unlike you.”

“Maybe it wasn’t that much for you, but it was the leap I needed to get out of my comfort zone. And the fact you’re willing to do this with me...it makes me so happy.”

Seeing Naruto so ecstatic, Sasuke couldn’t help but bask in this infectious contentment too. He held Naruto’s hand, muttering. “And when do you want to move in with me? After this trip?”

Naruto groaned, his boisterous self deflating. “Yeah...that’s the part about why I spend all afternoon making phone calls. I tried to call off my sponsors, but not all of them agreed with this. All I can promise is getting this done in one or two months. Some said that I can feature Italy and France till the end of their contract.”

“And why can’t you terminate everything right now?”

“I’ll be forced to pay a fine for breach of contract, unfortunately.”

Sasuke scowled sympathetic with Naruto’s predicament.

“Don’t worry about it Sasuke. I promised that I’m going to pester you soon. You just have to wait a little bit more.” Naruto beamed.

“Hn.” Sasuke stood up, feeling the chilling breeze as the sun was already gone from the horizon.

As they were walking back to the entrance, thankfully the place was completely deserted, allowing them to hold their hands, Naruto said distracted. “So...have you found the meaning of life?”

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows from the question raised out of nowhere, responding. “No, not really.”

His heart jumped giddy when Naruto widened a conspiratory grin, whispering close. “You mind if I join so we can search together for the answer of this question?”

Sasuke kissed him. “Of course not.”

\--.--.--

Sasuke yawned stretching his arms, satisfied for another end of work day. Two months have passed and Naruto was currently at his parents’ house, probably being fussed by his mother all the time. They must be really happy that their son had returned after many years, but on the other hand, Sasuke barely had long distance sexy calls due to Naruto not managing to have one minute to himself.

Shrugging inwardly, Sasuke sometimes used some old videos to relieve himself. While descending by elevator, despite having much in his brain, he halted once he felt current running through his body, giving him goosebumps. He walked towards the exit, recognizing that familiar orange t-shirt leaning on the glass doors, as he opened it, expectant.

“Hey.” Sasuke shuddered from Naruto’s gruff voice, half-lidded eyes glancing at him. “Come here often cutie?”

Rolling his eyes, he bridged the gap with a swift kiss.

Naruto laughed, both hands holding tenderly his face.

“I’m home.”

\--.--.--

AN: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY it’s overrrrrrrrr!!! And I finished in time for Naruto’s birthday just as planned (but not rly). Good news by the way, for me. In one of the places I described in Brazil, because of this fic, inspired me to visit there next year lmao. It’s Jalapão from Tocantins. I’m so excited! Wish me luck!

Like always, please kindly review and make me a very happy author.


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